Calendar

1^st Orientation meeting related to the NEH project “Humanites and the Healing Arts”

• Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. in the Lewis Richardson Seminar Room, Building Pedreira, College of Humanities, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus

RAFAEL CAMPO, MA, MD, DLitt (Hon)

• Monday, February 13^th, 2012: 11:00-2:00 UPR, Río Piedras Campus (UPR, RP), Seminar Room of the Department of Philosophy. Faculty development session. Overview of the Medical Humanities; “The Poetry of Healing.” Dr. Campo shared with the faculty cohort of the NEH project information about his involvement in the Medical Humanities in academia, medical practice and his life as a poet; explains the field of Medical Humanities and its value to the “healing arts,” from his perspective; discussed how he includes the arts in his work with medical students and with patients. Campo was introduced to the cohort, the College of Humanities at the Rio Piedras Campus and our basic academic and professional areas of training and interest. The particular context of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean was discussed by the group.
• Tuesday, February 14th: 11:00-2:00 UPR, Medical Sciences Campus (UPR, RCM), Room 822, Graduate School of Medicine. “The Healing Arts: Cultivating Humanism in Medicine.” Faculty Development session with Faculty cohort; also invited: members of the Academia Humanistica and El Centro de las Humanidades, physicians of El Centro Médico and students. Campo is introduced to the members of the Graduate School of Medicine and the Medical Sciences Campus. Overview of the Medical Humanities; Dr. Campo shared with the faculty cohort information about his involvement in the Medical Humanities in academia, medical practice and his life as a poet; explained the field of Medical Humanities and its value to the “healing arts,” from his perspective; discusses how he includes the arts in his work with medical students and with patients. Discussion of how to incorporate the Humanities in Medical School curriculum, support for the Medical Humanities (grants, etc.).

• 2:00-3:00 Tour of the library archives related to the medical history of Puerto Rico; Medical Sciences Campus

• Wednesday, February 15th: 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. UPR, RCM, poetry workshop for faculty, medical students and creative writing students from UPR, RP.

• Wednesday, February 15th: 4:30-7:20 p.m., Building LPM 127, UPR, RRP, faculty development session. “Healing and the Poem”. Working closely with literary texts/ poetry or expressive writing, Campo presented his own work (poetry reading on medical subjects) and other literary or artistic works for analysis and discussion by the cohort.

• Thursday, February 16th: 6:00 p.m., Room Jorge Enjuto, College of Humanities, UPR, RRP. Public Lecture: “Cultural Competence: Poetry and the Importance of Voice in Diverse Experiences of Illness.” Physicians who work with infectious diseases and HIV were invited, as were Humanities professors, the faculty cohort, interested students, poets, etc.

• Friday, February 17th, 9:00-12:00, Building SGG 202, UPR, RRP, faculty development session: “Literature, Arts, and Healing: Curriculum Development.” Faculty cohort shared with Campo their course descriptions or preliminary course ideas and received his feedback and suggestions.

2^nd Orientation meeting related to the NEH

• Friday, March 9, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. In the Lewis Richardson Seminar Room, Building Pedreira, College of Humanities, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus

Medical History, Work Sessions, march 20-27, 2012

• Faculty development session for the project cohort led by Dr. José Rigau, member of the cohort, Epidemiologist and Medical Historian, on the History of Medicine in Puerto Rico. He also discussed representations of pre-20th Century and early 20th Century Medicine, Illness and Healing in Puerto Rican literary, non-literary textual and visual art sources. Moreover, he discussed cultural issues related to early vaccines in the Caribbean and the development of the School of Tropical Medicine.

• The Academy of Medical Humanities and the Department of Internal Medicine (UPR, RCM) and the Project “Humanities and the Healing Arts: Puerto Rico and the Caribbean” (UPR, RP) co-hosted a lecture by Dr. Norman Maldonado, Professor of Medicine and Ex-President of the University of Puerto Rico, on “A brief History of Health Services- 20th Century” (March 21st). The cohort attended.

• Cohort was invited to attend a day-long conference comprised of several panel sessions and lectures organized by the Institute of the History of Health Sciences, at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, that featured several international guest speakers on the History of Medical Health Sciences, “The State and Health in Puerto Rico during the 20th Century: History of the Services and Professional Education.” Sessions took place on March 27th at the General Archive of Puerto Rico (thus, the cohort also gained familiarity with bibliographic resources related to Medical History of Puerto Rico)

• Panels addressed the following topics: the value of the general archives as a source for research; the relationship between “Jíbaros” (people of the countryside) and doctors during the beginning of the 20th Century in the campaigns against anemia; the legacy of the History of Tropical Medicine; the role of Protestant Churches in the regionalization of healthcare in Puerto Rico, 1898-1930; the founding of the three professional schools of Medicine in Puerto Rico (Medicine, Pharmacy and Public Health); the health scenario of Puerto Rico for the 21st Century.

• The cohort received an introduction by the librarian to the Special Collections Room that houses documents related to the History of Medicine in Puerto Rico at the library of the Medical School, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus.

KWAME DAWES, Ph.D

• April 29, 2012: 2:00pm-5:00pm University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Overview session. Introductions to the NEH project Cohort. Dr. Dawes shared information with the NEH project members about his multimedia work related to HIV/AIDS in the contexts of Jamaica and Haiti; discusses his work as observer and witness; multimedia as a medium for engagement with others, voice and social agency; the power of the word/ word/soun/ave/power. What does multimedia expression offer to Humanities professors in other fields (ArtHistory, Visual Arts, History, Drama, Translation, Communication, Philosophy, etc.) who are interested in developing courses related to the intersections between Humanities and Medicine? To medical schools interested in introducing the Humanities into their curriculum?

• April 30: 4:30pm-7:20pm University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. “Thunder in the Egg: the Voice of Resilience in Haiti: A Multimedia Presentation.”

• May 1: 4:30- 8:00 p.m. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. “The Art of Empathy: Poetry and Journalism, a workshop and lecture.”

• May 2: 11:00 a.m.- 12:00: Short writing workshop with interested Medical Students

• May 2: 12:00-2:00 p.m., University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. Public Lecture: “Hope’s Hospice: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica: A Multimedia Presentation.”

• May 2: 4:30pm-7:20pm, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. “Thunder in the Egg: the Voice of Resilience in Haiti: A Multimedia Presentation.”

• May 3: 11:00am-2:00pm, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Public Lecture: “Hope’s Hospice: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica: A Multimedia Presentation.”

JIM FERRIS, Ph.D

• Monday, September 17, 2012 11:00 am-2:00 pm: Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP), Seminar Room, Department of Philisophy. Introductory session with faculty cohort. Dr. Ferris shared information with the cohort about his involvement in Disability Studies in academia, his courses, and his life as a writer and performer; explained how he integrates a study of the Humanities into the courses he designs and teaches; discussed expressive writing (poetry, fiction, playwriting, performance art texts) as a “healing art” and means of agency from his perspective. Dr. Ferris was introduced to cohort.

• One session divided into two activities for undergraduate students and cohort:  4:30-5:30 p.m. Poetry Writing workshop for interested undergraduate creative writing students, 5:30-7:20 p.m. LPM 127, Facultad de Humanidades Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP) Dr. Ferris shared with an undergraduate class, “Literature and the Healing Arts,” his poetry, his knowledge regarding Disability Studies and his life as a writer and performer (25 students).

• Tuesday, September 18, 4:30-7:20 pm, Room 136, LPM Edificio Luis Palés Matos Facultad de Humanidades Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP) “Healing and Literature”/ Important issues in Disability Studies. Dr. Ferris and a group of professors from the Medical School (UPR, RCM) and the College of Humanities (UPR, RRP) read and analyzed a diverse set of literary texts  in order to discuss the relationship between Disability Studies, the literary arts, and healing. Dr. Ferris presented his own literary works and other literary, dramatic and artistic works for analysis and discussion. (Cohort was provided with a packet of readings for this session).

• Wednesday, September 19, 10:00-12:00, Seminar Room Lewis Richardson: Q. & A. during lunch. “Poetry, Embodiment and Healing.”   Conference and reading for the cohort and the general public by Dr. Ferris.

• Thursday, September 20, 10:00 am-11:20 a.m., Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP). “Literature, Arts, and Healing: Curriculum Development.” Cohort of “Humanities and the Healing Arts: Puerto Rico and the Caribbean” shared with Dr. Ferris ideas for the development of new courses and receive his feedback and suggestions.

• Thursday, September 20, 6:00 pm, Sala Jorge Enjuto (Sala A), Edificio Luis Palés Matos, El primer piso, Facultad de Humanidades, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP) Scars: A Love Story, Performance for cohort and general public.

JOHN L. COULEHAN, MD, MPH, (Emeritus)

• October 8, 2012, 11:00 am-2:00 pm, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP):  Introductory session with faculty cohort.
• Dr. Coulehan shared information with the cohort about his involvement in the Medical Humanities in academia, his medical practice, work in palliative medicine and his life as a writer and literary critic; explained the field of Medical Humanities and its value to the “healing arts,” from his perspective; and  discussed how he includes literary arts in his work with medical students and with patients.

• October 8, 4:30- 7:20 p.m., Dr. Coulehan shares with an undergraduate class, “Literature and the Healing Arts,” his knowledge of the Medical Humanities and his life as a physician and writer (25 students).

• October 9, 11:00 am- 12:00 pm, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Ciencias Médicas (UPR, RCM) Activity for medical students.

• October 9, 4:30-6:30 pm, Edificio Luis Palés Matos, Facultad de Humanidades , Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP), “Healing and Literature”. Dr. Coulehan and a group of professors from the Medical School (UPR, RCM) and the College of Humanities (UPR, RRP) read and analyzed literary texts  in order to discuss the relationship between medicine and literature. Dr. Coulehan presented his own literary works and other literary or artistic works for analysis and discussion. Attended the course on the evolutionary history of man, “Ascent of Man.” Discussion of the history of debates  and ethical issues related to euthanasia.

• October 10, 12:00-1:30,Escuela de Medicina,Universidad de Puerto Rico,Recinto de Ciencias Médicas (UPR, RCM), “The Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Emotional Resilience.” Dr. Coulehan shared with the audience his knowledge of Medical Humanities and his life as a physician, literary critic and writer; discussed how he includes the literary arts in his work in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and in the training of physicians; discussed how to incorporate the Humanities in Medical School curriculum. Introduced the audiences to the Literature, Arts and Medicine database at the NYU School of Medicine. Followed by an afternoon meeting with cohort and Medical staff, 1:30-3:00.

• October 11, 9:30 am-11:30 a.m.,Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP) “Literature, Arts, and Healing: Curriculum Development.” Cohort of the project  “Humanities and the Healing Arts: Puerto Rico and the Caribbean” shared with Dr. Coulehan their ideas for the development of new courses and received his feedback and suggestions.

• October  11, 6:00 pm, Sala Jorge Enjuto (Sala A),Edificio Luis Palés Matos, El primer piso,Facultad de Humanidades,Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP): “I’m gonna slap those doctors: Passion, Literature and Healing.” Conference and reading for the general public by Dr. Coulehan.

ADITI BRENNAN KAPIL

• Tuesday, November 13, 2012 11:00 am-2:00 pm, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP), Seminario de Filosofia:  Introductory session with faculty cohort. Aditi Kapil shared information with the cohort about her development of the play Agnes Under the Big Top and its themes related to immigration; cancer; cross-culture medicine.

• Tuesday, November 13, 4:30- 7:20 p.m., Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP),Room 308, Edificio LPM. Visit to undergraduate class, Aditi Kapil shared with an undergraduate class, “Literature and the Healing Arts,” her play Agnes Under the Big Top and discusses illness and the immigrant experience as topics for theatre (25 students). Members of the cohort observed and participated.

• Wednesday, November 14, 1:00-2:30 p.m., Building Luis Pales Matos, Room 135, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RP). Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP). Visit to undergraduate drama course on Diction, taught by Dr. Carola Garcia. Members of the cohort observed and participated.

• Wednesday, November 14, 4:00-7:00 p.m., Building Luis Pales Matos, Room 135, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR, RRP). Visit to undergraduate drama course “Actividades Dramáticas,” cohort of the NEH project was invited to attend. Activities and conversation were directed towards dramatic exercises related to dramatic creation, shame, illness and healing.

• Thursday, 15 November, 10:00-1:00 a.m., Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. Consultation session with members of the cohort regarding possible course ideas and means of incorporating dramatic techniques and materials into courses related to cross-cultural understanding, illness, healing, and the body. 12:00-1:00

JORGE FERRER, Ph.D (April 22, 2013 and May 17, 2013)

• Two faculty development sessions on Bioethics took place in the Instituto Hostosiano de Bioética, on the fifth floor of the library on the Medical Sciences campus (UPR, RCM). At this meeting, Dr. Jorge Ferrer, the director of the Instituto Hostosiano de Bioética, gave a workshop on Bioethics, the function of the Institute and the resources available to us.The purpose for the workshops was not only to introduce us to issues of

• Bioethics, but to also to discuss the ways in which we can integrate elements of bioethics into the new undergraduate Humanities courses that have created in order to comply with the terms of the NEH grant.

LAURA FERGUSON

• Sept 9^th, 2013:  10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Sala de Profesores. Edificio Luis Pales Matos. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Overview session. Introductions to the NEH project Cohort. Professor Ferguson shared information with the NEH project members and other interested professors and students about her work as an artist and her work as an educator. She discussed and presented her drawings from bones and cadaver dissections in the Anatomy Lab of the NYU Medical School, as well as her self-exploratory artwork that uses radiology images in 3D Imaging. Her perspectives on the role of art (and more particularly, her art) in the Humanities, medical education and healing professions was included in this first session. She also introduced the group to the artwork of other artists/ collections/ or exhibitions relevant to the interdisciplinary study of Science, Medicine and the Visual Arts.

• Sept 10th: 11:30 a.m. University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. Salón 545, 5to piso, Edificio Principal de Ciencias Médicas, Edif. Guillermo Arbona. UPR, RCM. Informal hour-long meeting with interested faculty and students at the Medical School (UPR, RCM). Purpose: To discuss how the Master Scholars Medical Humanism Program at the NYU School of Medicine integrates the visual arts to the curriculum and co-curricular activities.

• Sept 10th: 1:00 p.m. University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. Salón 545, 5to piso, Edificio Principal de Ciencias Médicas, Edif. Guillermo Arbona. Public lecture: “Medical Humanities and the Visual Arts: Art, Anatomy and the Human Body.” Ferguson presented her artwork and discussed how her involvement in drawing, scanning and painting the body, both her own and that of cadavers, goes beyond anatomy textbooks to explore and cultivate an aesthetic and intimate relationship to the body for artist, patients, medical students, doctors, and all those who look at artistic representations of the body and its structures. She also discussed the benefits and experiences of her medical school students who have taken art workshops with her while getting a medical education.

• Sept 11th: 2:30-3:30 p.m. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Sala de Profesores. Edificio Luis Pales Matos. Informal meeting with interested faculty and students at the UPR, Río Piedras Campus.

• Sept 11th: 4:00 p.m. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Sala Jorge Enjuto (Sala A). Edificio Luis Pales Matos. Public lecture. “Visualizing the Body from the Inside Out.” Ferguson presented her artwork, and discussed her artistic technique and experiences as an educator in the medical context.

• Sept. 12th: 12:00-3:00 p.m., University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Museo. Faculty members of the NEH group “Humanities and the Healing Arts: Puerto Rico and the Caribbean” shared their ideas with Professor Ferguson for the development of new courses and received her feedback and suggestions. Ferguson shared with cohort visual art (her own and that of others) related to issues pertinent to Medical Humanities courses. She also asked the cohort to do some exercises related to art.

JANET MACLENNAN, Ph.D

• October 23, 2013, 11:30 a.m.:  Workshop on Health Communication by Dr. Janet MacLennan, a specialist in Human Communication, la Sala de la Facultad de Humanidades, Primer Piso del edificio Luis Pales Matos al lado de Sala A (Sala Jorge Enjuto).

PACO ROCA

• Nov. 12^th, 2013:  10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Overview session. Introductions to the NEH project Cohort. Paco Roca shared information with the NEH project members about his work as a graphic novelist and filmmaker. He discussed how during his preparation to write the graphic novel, he spoke with friends, who told him stories about their aging parents, and also visited various care centers and nursing homes for the elderly in order know what it is like to live in one and to be able to produce an honest and emotionally correct treatment of the experiences of aging people, many of whom have Alzheimer’s.

• Nov. 13th: 11:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Creative workshop with graphic novelist and filmmaker Paco Roca. Students and professors created a brief storyline, comic strip, animé drawing, storyboard or short screenplay dialogue based on either aspects of aging or the stories their friends or family members have told them about their illnesses or encounters with physicians and hospitals.

• Nov. 14th: 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. First floor, Amphitheater of the School of Dentistry of the Medical School. Public lecture, film projection and conversation: “The Medical Humanities and Arts Forms that Appeal to People of All Ages: the Graphic Novel and Animated Film Arrugas, author Paco Roca, and the theme of Alzheimer’s Disease.” The audience screened the animated film Arrugas. Dr. Yvonne Jimenez, specialist in Alzheimer’s disease hosted a conversation with Paco Roca afterwards.

• Nov. 15th: University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Informal hour-long meeting with faculty and students interested in graphic novel making and film making.

• Nov. 15th: University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. “Arrugas: An approximation to aging and the Alzheimer disease.” The general public and the Faculty cohort gained knowledge about what Paco Roca has called “the need to discuss old-age, a scarcely-touched topic in literature or cinema.” Participants examined the aesthetic and thematic qualities of graphic novels, viewing the realistic but subtly humorous way that Paco Roca deals with the topics of Alzheimer’s, aging, friendship, memory-loss, the humanity of the elderly, and life in an assisted care home. Film Projection for the general public and the cohort, followed by conversation with author.

• Nov. 16th: 1:00-4:00 p.m. Care Center for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, Carolina, PR. Public lecture, film screening and conversation co-hosted by the the support group for family members of Alzheimer’s patients. Members of the cohort were invited.

ZILKIA RIVERA ORRACA, Ph.D  and JESSICA SERRANO GOYITA, Ph.D. 

• November 20, 2013: eL pSICOBALLET: ASPECTOS TEÓRICOS Y PRÁTICOS. The activity took place in the University theater from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Led by two clinical psychologists who were contributors to the book Psicoballet: Teoría y Prática en Cuba y Puerto Rico (2004), this workshop on Dance Therapy covered the history of the therapuetic use of ballet and movement with children in the context of Cuba and Puerto Rico and the techniques developed by the two therapists. The session had both a theoretical and experiential component, as cohort members were also asked to participate in a simulated dance therapy session.