DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
Our Center’s goal continues to be reaching as many people and communities as possible, at the University of Utah and beyond. This year we are delighted to begin new collaborations and sustain ongoing partnerships to bring you exciting and thought-provoking events and experiences. We join the Department of Philosophy and College of Humanities in announcing the beginning of the undergraduate degree program in Medical Humanities and celebrating the career of Dr. Margaret Battin who is retiring from the U (but staying on as an active member of CHEETAH). We are bringing to Utah three nationally recognized guest speakers from across the US, beginning with Dr. Erin Gentry Lamb from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine as our Health Humanities Lecturer just after Labor Day. All three of our Ethics Explored discussions this fall are collaborative: with the Center on Aging (ageism in healthcare), the School of Dentistry (ethics of fluoride), and Multitude Films (aid in dying and disability justice). As always, our long-running Literature and Healthcare discussion group is facilitated by expert faculty from across campus. Our ongoing partnership with UtahPresents means there are two live performances this season that you should be sure to attend. We are also proud to recognize the excellent work of our faculty and that of up-and-coming scholars.
Read on for more information and to mark your calendars!
Gretchen Case
Director
Undergraduate Medical Humanities Degree Program at the U
On March 11, 2025, the University of Utah Board of Trustees voted unanimously to create new BS/BA degrees in Medical Humanities. University of Utah students will be able to start enrolling in the new Medical Humanities major in the Fall 2025 semester.
Undergraduate and graduate degree programs in medical/health humanities have been expanding rapidly across the United States for the last 15 years; there are well over 100 spread out across the East and West Coasts, the Southeast, and the Midwest. The Mountain West, however, is a medical humanities desert. When the University of Utah’s degrees launch in the fall, they will be the only major available anywhere between Nebraska and California.
Medical Humanities students at the University of Utah will take courses from a range of departments and colleges across the University: Philosophy, Communication, History, Disability Studies, Theater, Film, Dance, Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, Linguistics, English, and World Languages and Religions, to name just a few. This variety of units is reflective of the enormous interdisciplinarity that is at the heart of medical/health humanities, and also the expertise in the field spread out across the University of Utah. The major itself will be administered by the Department of Philosophy.
The Center for Health Ethics, Arts & Humanities was instrumental to bringing the new Medical Humanities major to life at the University of Utah. Center director Gretchen Case, as well as Center members Peggy Battin, Natalia Washington, Madison Kilbride, and James Tabery designed the program. The Center provided an influential letter of support for the proposal, signaling excitement about the new major among the health science community on campus. And the Center and the Medical Humanities major will work closely together going forward in order to coordinate opportunities for students in the program to participate in Center events.
Conversation with Medical Humanities Student Anna Jo Short about “Prized Possessions in Elderly Populations”
Anna Jo Short, originally from Wyoming, graduated from the University of Utah in Spring 2025, having majored in Health, Society, & Policy, and minored in Chemistry and Medical Humanities. She will be matriculating at Weber State University in the fall, earning her MA in Health Administration.
In the Fall 2024 semester, Anna Jo enrolled in the Introduction to Medical Humanities course (PHIL 2250), the entry point for students interested in studying Medical Humanities at the University of Utah. All the students in the class had to conduct a semester-long research project, and Anna Jo investigated the role that prized possessions play in people’s lives, particularly as they advance in age. She innovatively drew on interviews with residents at a senior living facility where she worked.
Professor James Tabery talked recently with Anna Jo about her project, which was just published in Range, the University of Utah’s undergraduate research journal.
JT: How did you decide to do your Introduction to Medical Humanities project on the topic of prized possessions among residents in a retirement home?
- AJS: I felt fortunate to be working at a retirement home during the project, as most of the coursework so far had pertained to death. Working in an environment with people nearing the end of life was a good opportunity to gain valuable insight on the topic. I decided to focus on prized possessions because of their prevalence in the retirement home. I always enjoyed visiting residents to see what they had done with their apartments; it made me understand them more once I saw the spaces they had designed for themselves. I knew they had belongings with rich backgrounds, and I wanted to explore further the stories behind them for the project, and how they tied into residents’ outlooks on death
JT: The senior living facility where you work counts 265 residents. What attracted you to “George” and “Dolly”?
- AJS: I was drawn to George and Dolly mainly because I knew they would be comfortable speaking with me. I didn’t want to approach residents whom I didn’t know as well, and ask them such personal questions. I wanted to be especially careful when addressing the topic of death, as some people are very sensitive to it. Additionally, I wanted to converse with residents who weren’t struggling with cognitive decline, therefore avoiding any confusion or distress. George visited with me frequently while I worked, and Dolly loved to chat. Because of the existing personal connection I had with the two of them, they were the first residents I thought to interview. I aimed to interview more residents, but I was surprised by how long each interview took between Dolly and George, so I settled for just two resident interviews. I felt this was better, to have a few quality conversations than several rushed communications regarding a sensitive topic.
JT: What were some similarities and differences between George and Dolly, and their prized possessions?
- AJS: The main similarities between George at Dolly are their residence at the retirement home, and that they each live alone in an apartment in independent living. Aside from that, they don’t share much in common as individuals. However, both residents have surprisingly similar methods of displaying their prized possessions. Dolly’s most prized “possession” is her family, which she displays in framed photos on her walls. George’s prized possession is a gun, which he is reminded of when he looks at a photo on his wall that depicts a family member holding the weapon. Both residents admire photos that remind them of what they love, but the images depict different things. Dolly’s admiration is focused more on individuals featured in her photos, whereas George is more fixated on an object featured in the image.
JT: One of the benefits of prized possessions, you point out in your essay, is their stability. What is it about that stability that lends value?
- AJS: Stability is valuable in every stage of life, as change follows us at every age. However, when people are near the end of their lives, change is often accompanied by reflection. So, items that remain unchanged by time, like photos, allow residents to reflect on a period of their life that has long since passed, while simultaneously providing stability. Having ownership of something that is symbolic acts as an anchor and can be soothing to residents who find themselves moving to a new space that will likely be their final home.
JT: Do you pay attention to people’s possessions differently now, given what you learned about George, Dolly, and the existing research on prized possessions?
- AJS: Yes, after conducting my research, I do find myself paying closer attention to people’s possessions. I found this to be the case when my family and I visited my grandmother after our grandfather passed away. To my surprise, my grandmother, a relatively stoic person, with a minimalist, fiscal mindset, kept many of my grandfather’s expensive possessions that took up a lot of space. This included several mounts that she decided to take with her as she moved from Montana to Minnesota. My grandma was never an avid hunter, but my grandfather was. We were all very surprised that she wanted to take them with her. I think the items, which don’t fit her aesthetic, mainly serve as a reminder of her husband of 65 years. The mounts symbolize family hunting trips, and the hard work that my grandfather put into the houses he built, where the mounts had once been.
JT: Do you think there are things that senior living facilities could do better to embrace the value of prized possessions for their residents?
- AJS: I feel that the senior living facility where I work actually does an excellent job of embracing prized possessions for their residents. One example that comes to mind involves a resident that I will call Tim. Tim comes from Georgia, where he says it was very common to hang framed pictures from crown molding, a method that avoided damaging the walls. The apartments at the retirement home do not have crown molding, but management allowed maintenance to go forth with installing such, enabling Tim to display his impressive collection of artwork via a traditional method that he cherished.
JT: Did conducting the research change the way you think about what you count as your own prized possessions?
- AJS: Surprisingly, I don’t feel that my research changed the way I think about my own prized possessions. Rather, I believe it deepened the existing value I have for my prized possessions. And, I think my research gave me a better understanding of why I value certain possessions more than others. When I presented my final project, I featured an image of a teddy bear that my dad bought at the hospital on the day I was born. That teddy bear and a blanket that my mom hand-sewed for me are my most valuable possessions. To that, I might add a doll that my grandfather gave me. Although these “childish” items don’t entertain me now, they provide me comfort because of what they symbolize: my family and the love and support they give me.
2025-26 Health Humanities Lecturer
Erin Gentry Lamb, PhD, MA, is a scholar in health humanities and age studies at Case Western Reserve University. She leads the Humanities Pathway at CWRU School of Medicine and directs the undergraduate Bioethics and Medical Humanities minor. Her work focuses on aging, death, disability, and health justice. A co-founder of the North American Network in Aging Studies and former Co-President of the Health Humanities Consortium, she co-edited Research Methods in the Health Humanities and advances national conversations on health humanities education.
Save the date:
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Public Lecture: Building a Better Future with Medical and Health Humanities
12:00 PM
Hybrid Event:
In-Person: The Jewel Box at the Tanner Humanities Center
[CTIHB #Rm 143]
Virtual: Zoom
Ethics Explored Discussion: Ameliorating Ageism in Healthcare
5:30 PM
Hybrid Event:
In-Person: HELIX building - Chokecherry and Alder conference rooms, GS150
[HELIX #Rm GS 150]
Virtual: Zoom
2025-26 David Green Memorial Lecturer
Johanna Schoen is distinguished professor of History at Rutgers University and the author of two books: Choice and Coercion: Birth Control, Sterilization, and Abortion in Public Health and Welfare in the Twentieth Century, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005) and Abortion After Roe (Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2015). She is now working on a book, Life and Death in the Nursery, on the history of Neonatal Intensive Care Units for which she received a 3-year research grant from the NIH/NLM.
Save the date:
Thursday, February 12, 2026
Pediatric Grand Rounds
8:00 AM
Hybrid Event:
In-person: Primary Children's Hospital, Third Floor Auditorium
Virtual: Live Broadcast
Ethics Explored Discussion
12:00 PM
Hybrid Event:
In-person: TBD
Virtual: Zoom
2025-26 Max & Sara Cowan Memorial & Priscilla M. Mayden Endowed Lecturer
Sean A. Valles, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice. A philosopher of health, his work focuses on the social roots of health disparities and ethical challenges in public health. He writes on the use of race in health research, pandemic preparedness, and the connections between biomedicine and public health. He is the author of Philosophy of Population Health and co-editor of the Bioethics for Social Justice book series.
Save the date:
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Internal Medicine Grand Rounds
12:00 PM
Hybrid Event:
In-person: HELIX building - Chokecherry conference room, GS150
Virtual: Livestream
Ethics Explored Discussion
5:30 PM
Hybrid Event:
In-person: TBD
Virtual: Zoom
AUGUST 13
The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen
From our Facilitator, Rachel Borup, PhD:
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,” Allen Ginsburg wrote in his famous 1956 poem, “Howl.” Author Jonathon Rosen references Ginsburg’s poem in the title of his memoir, The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions. The memoir focuses on the intense relationship between Rosen and his best friend since childhood, Michael Laudor, who was brilliant, wildly successful, and yet profoundly troubled by mental illness. After a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, Laudor went on to graduate from Yale Law School, publish a famous article in the New York Times de-stigmatizing schizophrenia, and sell multimillion-dollar book and movie deals about his experience “overcoming” schizophrenia. Then, tragically, under the delusional spell of paranoia, he murdered his pregnant girlfriend whom he mistook for a robot. For anyone who has struggled with how to help a loved one with serious mental illness, or anyone who is troubled by how society deals with those with mental illness, this book will prove a provocative read. The Best Minds was one of Barack Obama’s recommended books of 2023 and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in memoir/autobiography.
SEPTEMBER 10
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
From our Facilitator, Linda Edelman, PhD, MPhil, RN:
In Demon Copperhead, the 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction, Barbara Kingsolver transposes the impact of poverty on children depicted in Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield to contemporary Appalachia. The novel commences with the birth of a red-headed child encased in a caul to a teenage mother grappling with addiction and poverty. It immerses the reader in the life of a boy growing up in a rural community afflicted with unemployment, poverty, and the violence and addiction that follows. These are communities where children are often lost to the system yet found by individuals confronting their own demons. The Pulitzer Organization describes the novel as speaking “for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind." Demon Copperhead is a candid examination of rural America and stands as a testament to the tenacity and resilience of its inhabitants.
OCTOBER 8
The Political Determinants of Health by Daniel Dawes
From our Facilitator, Hailey Haffey, PhD:
Many of the most pressing questions in health care today relate to access to, and distribution of, resources. The social context of a person or community is a key factor in predicting what type of health care—and thus health—people might experience. Accordingly, the category of social determinants of health is a vital research area for those who are invested in distributions of resources that improve health for all people. In The Political Determinants of Health, Daniel E. Dawes explains that while there is developing attention to the health disparities that result from social determinants of health, “not as much attention has been given to understanding the factors, systems, or structures (laws and policies) that create, perpetuate, or exacerbate these differences, many of which are unfair, avoidable, and remediable.” Thus, Dawes reminds us that disparities related to social situations are not fixed and are often the result of policy and political processes. Understanding the need to thoughtfully examine the mechanisms that produce social contexts, Dawes’ book provides key insights about the conditions necessary to elicit meaningful change toward better health for all people.
NOVEMBER 12
On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service by Anthony Fauci
From our Facilitator, Rachel Borup, PhD:
For most Americans, Dr Anthony Fauci’s name is synonymous with the public health guidelines around the Covid-19 pandemic. In his 2024 memoir, On Call, we learn so much more about this fascinating man. Dr Fauci recounts his precocious youth in Brooklyn, his early attraction to medicine and the field of infectious disease in particular, and his decades of work as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. In this position, he was responsible for treating, preventing, and managing some of the major infectious diseases of the past half century, including AIDS, Ebola, and Zika. As such, he built productive relationships with administration after administration that passed through the White House. Fauci’s memoir is probably most fascinating in the final section, when he takes readers behind the scenes of the Covid-19 pandemic, sharing the unvarnished, sometimes unhinged private conversations he had with political leaders during that time. The sense of the man one gains from this memoir is that of a committed doctor who truly cares about protecting people from harm and is not phased by political bluster.
DECEMBER 10
Disability Visibility by Alice Wong
From our Facilitator, Gretchen Case, PhD, MA:
Disability Visibility is Alice Wong’s groundbreaking collection of essays from writers with a wide range of disabilities and a wide range of perspectives. These are non-fiction accounts that address living with disability alongside other aspects of being human: family, work, sexuality, emotion, and more. Authors have included content notes for many of the essays, advising readers that this book provokes and challenges as much as it teaches and celebrates.
Informal, multidisciplinary discussions about current issues in healthcare ethics
1.5 credits CME
We join the Department of Philosophy and colleagues from across the country in celebrating the career of Dr. Margaret Battin, who is retiring from the U, but staying on as an active member of CHEETAH.
Congratulations to Sierra Casper, MS 2028, winner of the 2025 Award for Written Scholarship in Medical Ethics!
Congratulations to MD/PhD candidate Justin Campbell, who received a Special Commendation for Bioethics Scholarship in this year’s Award competition!
Save the Date for our collaboration with UtahPresents in Spring 2026
Healthcare Stories | Kingsbury Hall | Mar 5, 2026 @ 7:00 pm
Healthcare Stories is an annual storytelling event that happens live and on-stage at Kingsbury Hall. Produced by the Resiliency Center, the Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities, and UtahPresents, Healthcare Stories endeavors to foster community and connection through the act of sharing unscripted, healthcare themed stories.
This year’s theme is “Together”— all the ways we connect with each other within communities and between communities to address shared challenges, goals, and desires.
Save the Date for our collaboration with UtahPresents in Spring 2026
Arms Around America | Kingsbury Hall | April 9, 2026 @ 7:30 pm & April 10, 2026 @ 7:30 pm
Los Angeles-based theater group Dan Froot & Company’s Arms Around America is based on stories of families whose lives have been shaped by guns. Book-length oral histories of families in South Florida, Western Montana, and Southern California were transformed into audio dramas that became a podcast and eventually a live show. Stage and Cinema called it, “an all-around fabulous evening of unconventional live theatre.”
By opening a window into these families’ lives, Dan Froot & Company explore diverse perspectives and foster dialogue around the complex roles that guns play in our society. Their hope is that this project can help us all learn how to maintain each other’s humanity when discussing divisive topics. AAA received a prestigious National Theater Project award and commissions from the National Performance Network and UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance.
FACULTY NEWS
