Lecture series focuses on global health issues

MISSOULA – Exciting topics and speakers are planned for the sixth annual Global Public Health Lecture Series this semester at the University of Montana.

Free and open to the public, the series addresses some of the most pressing global health issues facing the world today.
            The series launches at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, in Gallagher Business Building Room 123. Peter Koehn, a political science professor and director of UM’s Global Health Program, will present “Multitudes Are Crossing Borders: Arising Challenges for Global Health and Future Public Health Professionals.”
            Drawing on his new book, “Transnational Mobility and Global Health: Traversing Borders and Boundaries,” Koehn will illustrate the pivotal ways that mobility increasingly is connected to global health. He also will explore arising challenges and possibilities for tomorrow’s public health professionals.
            Fourteen lectures are planned through April. All will be held Wednesdays in Gallagher 123. A full schedule is online at http://bit.ly/2RxFkT1.
            Another highlight this semester will be March 13 lecture by Lisa Parks, a 2018 MacArthur Fellow and UM graduate who works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She studies the global reach of information technology infrastructure and the cultural, political and humanitarian implications of that flow of information. Her lecture is titled “How Information Technologies Impact Quality of Life in Africa: Rethinking Dominant Assumptions.”
            Other topics will include health education experiences with the Peace Corps, health care observations in rural Uganda, connections between environmental and human health in Bornia, and much more.
            The series is hosted by UM’s Global Public Health minor and the Institute of Health and Humanities. One academic credit is available to UM students by enrolling in PSCI 191. The lectures also will be recorded and made available via Missoula Community Access Television using a grant donated by MCAT.
            For additional information visit http://hs.umt.edu/globalpublichealth, call program coordinator Kelly Yarns at 406-270-0869 or email kelly.yarns@mso.umt.edu. Koehn is available at 406-243-5294 or by emailing peter.koehn@mso.umt.edu.