Unpublished
The University Colloquium is an interdisciplinary program designed to engage University students, faculty, staff, and members of our community in conversation. Each year the University selects a theme, and identifies two books to act as catalysts for conversation. An exciting calendar of events is planned with visiting authors and speakers, and we invite you to join us in reading these books, attending the events, and joining the dialog.
Moral Courage
2013-2014 Colloquium Theme
If moral living was a multiple choice test, many of us would ace the exam. Assuming we know the right thing to do, we would likely choose the ethical option on paper. However, what happens when the hypothetical choice becomes a real dilemma that places a position, career, or family at risk? How does knowing the right thing become doing the right thing? These are the questions that we will explore together through the books and events we have planned.
Edmund Burke once wrote, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Join us for a discussion about how to become men and women who will have the courage to do the right thing.
Upcoming Events
Presentation by Rebecca Skloot
Wednesday, March 19, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
Florida Hospital Seventh-day Adventist Church | Map | Parking Map
*Location subject to change
The University is grateful to our sponsor for this event, GrayRobinson.
Rebecca Skloot is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. She specializes in narrative science writing and has worked as a correspondent for WNYC’s Radiolab and PBS’s Nova ScienceNOW. She and her father, Floyd Skloot, co-edited The Best American Science Writing 2011. Skloot holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Her debut book, The Immortal Life is now being translated into 25 languages and is currently being made into an HBO movie produced by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
“Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells-taken without her knowledge in 1951-became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance."
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. It’s a story inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we’re made of.” – from the description of the book on Rebecca Skloot’s website.
Due to the high level of interest in this event, an RSVP will be required for attendance and printed tickets will be required for entry. Please click on the link below to reserve your seat and receive a free ticket for entry.
Past Events
Presentation by Carl Wilkens
Mr. Wilkens was a humanitarian aid worker in Rwanda in the 1990s. When the genocide was launched in April, 1994, Carl and his family refused to leave, becoming the only Americans with the courage to remain in the country. Mr. Wilkens was featured in the 2004 PBS Frontline documentary Ghosts of Rwanda and has published a book entitled, I’m Not Leaving.
Presentation by Eva Fogelman, PhD and Rabbi Baruch Goldstein
Dr. Fogelman is the author of Conscience and Courage. She is a social psychologist, psychotherapist, author and filmmaker, and is in private practice in New York City. Dr. Fogelman, who was born in a displaced persons camp in Kassel, Germany after World War II, was one of the first psychotherapists to lead groups for children of Holocaust survivors. She is an advisor to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and in 1986 founded the Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers with Rabbi Harold Schulweis.
Conscience and Courage by Eva Fogelman.
“In this brilliantly researched and insightful book, psychologist Eva Fogelman presents compelling stories of rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust and offers a revealing analysis of their motivations. Based on her extensive experiences as a therapist treating Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and those who helped them, Fogelman delves into the psychology of altruism, illuminating why these rescuers chose to act while others simply stood by.” – From the book’s listing on amazon.com.
Rabbi Baruch Goldstein grew up in the Jewish community of Mlawa, a town on the border between Poland and Germany. By 1942, 19-year old Goldstein was being transported to the concentration and death camp Auschwitz. Separated from his family, he survived two and half years in the infamous camp.
As the Allies advanced across Europe in the spring of 1945, the Nazi leadership of Auschwitz forced those internees who could walk to proceed on a death march away from liberators. But somehow Goldstein survived this ordeal; yet his immediate and extended family did not, dying at the hands of the Nazis.
After the war, Goldstein moved from refugee camp to refugee camp, arriving at last in Italy. He made his way to this country as a yeshiva student, became a rabbi, had a family of his own, and eventually served synagogues in Massachusetts.
Presentation by members of the Lacks family
The University is grateful to our sponsor for this event, Turner Construction Company.
Members of Henrietta Lacks’s immediate family visited our campus and shared their story and answered questions about their experience.
Veronica Spencer is Henrietta Lacks’ great granddaughter. Inspired by Henrietta’s story, she is currently studying to become a Registered Nurse at Baltimore City Community College. She represents the Lacks family on the National Institute of the Science’s panel that reviews applications to conduct research using the HeLa genome. Veronica is also a mentor at Johns Hopkins for Dunbar Scholars and a very active member of the Lacks Family Foundation.
Shirley Lacks is Henrietta Lacks’ daughter-in-law and was Deborah’s best-friend in high school. Since retiring from the banking industry, Shirley dedicates a lot of her time traveling around the country, keeping Henrietta’s legacy alive. Shirley has three children and 5 grandchildren.
Additional Resources
Moral Courage Resources at the ADU Library
http://adu.libguides.com/moralcourage
To explore this topic further, please visit the R.A. Williams' Library website for books, videos, articles, and additional resources to spark your thinking about moral courage.