Past Events
Stephen Straker Memorial Lecture | Mar 7
Still Listening to Prozac: STS, Rhetoric, and “Mental Health”
with Judy Z. Segal, Professor Emeritus, Department of English Language and Literatures
Please note this lecture begins at 5:00 pm.
Reception to follow in the Frederick Wood Theatre lobby. This lecture will be recorded.
Since the launch of STS at UBC—and with the wisdom of Stephen Straker—rhetorical studies of science, technology, and medicine have been central to the interests of the program. My own work has focused on rhetorical elements in the theories and practices of health and medicine. My topics have included, inter alia, persuasions at work in discourse on migraine, breast cancer, death and dying, illness anxiety, “female sexual dysfunction,” aging/ageism, and health justice. My interest in the rhetoric of diagnosis itself led to my current work on low moods and their meanings. My lecture will begin with a brief history of STS at UBC (I have the archive!) and notes on the contributions of rhetorical studies to the work of the program. I will then give an account of the cultural and material significance of the persuasiveness of Peter D. Kramer’s (1993) Listening to Prozac—and of Kramer’s public and sustained allegiance, 30 years on, to the theses of that book. The lecture will address some of the ways that circulating discourse about mental health—here, discourse on “disordered” moods—is taken up in individual selves and in populations.
Judy Z. Segal (she/her) is Professor Emeritus, Department of English Language and Literatures, University of British Columbia. She was, in 2002, Chair of the Provost’s Committee to Propose an STS Program at UBC; she was a founding faculty member in that program. She was, as well, a founder of Rhetoric of Health and Medicine as a field. Her essays appear in rhetoric journals, interdisciplinary health and STS journals, and medical journals—and in essay collections across disciplines; she is author of Health and the Rhetoric of Medicine (2005). Professor Segal has been a member of the President’s International Advisory Committee of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a Distinguished Scholar at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, and a recipient of a Killam Teaching Award. She is a member of the Advisory Panel on Medicine and Society for the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Thursday, 7 March 2024 - 5:00pm
Travel Group | Mar 7
Türkiye and Rhodes
with Peter Dodek, Professor Emeritus of Critical Care Medicine
In September, 2022 we visited Turkiye and Rhodes. After five days of exploring Istanbul on foot, we flew to Kayseri in Cappadocia and drove to Goreme for more exploring the beautiful landscape and a hot-air balloon ride. Then, we drove to Gaziantep, famous for its great food, and then on to Sanliurfa (birthplace of Abraham), and Mardin (a quaint ancient town on a hilltop in southeast Turkiye). After four days of exploring that area, including the region close to the Syrian border, we flew to Izmir to visit Ephesus (famous Roman library) and Pamukkale (beautiful limestone formations) before ending our time in Turkiye at Fethiye on the coast. From there, we took a ferry to Rhodes and spent 5 days there exploring the ancient town (famous as the center of the Knights of Jerusalem in the 1500s) and some of the coastal towns nearby.
Format: Zoom
If you wish to receive the zoom link for the meeting and are not already on the EC Travel group list, please contact Paul Steinbok at psteinbok@cw.bc.ca.
A zoom link will be sent out before each meeting.
Thursday, 7 March 2024 - 3:00pm
Unit Representatives Meeting | March 7
The annual Unit Representatives Meeting will be held in March.
The agenda and RSVP link have been sent to the Unit Representatives by email.
Interested in becoming a Unit Rep?
Who is your Unit Representative?
Thursday, 7 March 2024 - 10:00am to 1:30pmVancouver Institute Lecture | Mar 2
NANOTECHNOLOGY FROM NATURE FOR SUSTAINABLE BIOPRODUCTS: A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE
with Dr. Emily Cranston, Professor & UBC President’s Excellence Chair in Forest Bio-products, Departments of Wood Science and Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of BC
Dr. Cranston is a leading innovator and scholar at UBC. With her research group, she investigates nanocellulose and hybrid bio-based materials that can be used in a broad range of applications including packaging, electrical components, and cosmetics to replace non-renewable resources. Among her multiple honours, she is an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Fellow, and a member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Cranston has received two Tappi NanoDivision Technical awards from the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and the LeSuer Award from the Society of Chemical Industries of Canada. She was the first Canadian to give a Kavli Lecture at an American Chemistry Society meeting in 2018.
Saturday, 2 March 2024 - 8:15pm
Photo Group | Mar 1
Theme: Sustainability
As always, you can send photos on other themes, and the photos can be recent (preferred!) or from your catalog.
Please send two photos to Richard Spencer on this theme (or your choice) before the meeting.
If you would like to join, please contact Richard Spencer at richard@rhspencer.ca for Zoom details
Check out the Photo Group’s Flickr account to view photos from their last meeting.
Friday, 1 March 2024 - 3:00pm
UBC Library Meditation Walk | Feb 28
The Meditation Walk: Mindfulness and Community Together at UBC
When: February 14 and 28 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm
Where: UBC Octagonal Labyrinth (6000 Iona Dr)