Mayo Clinic doctors, ASU humanists teaming up for 'Resilience'

Mayo Clinic in Arizona and ASU's Institute for Humanities Research are teaming up once again to tackle issues within the burgeoning field of medical/critical health humanities.

As part of their Imagining Health Project, scholars from ASU and medical professionals from Mayo Clinic are holding a panel discussion on "The Art and Science of Resilience" on Nov. 17 with a reception at 5 p.m. and the lecture at 5:30 p.m.

In order to foster dialogue at both ASU and Mayo Clinic campuses, the panel will be held at Mayo Clinic-Scottsdale (Ashton B. Taylor Auditorium), with remote participation available at both ASU Tempe (Social Sciences 109) and ASU Downtown (Health South, Room 442). 

The team has chosen to focus this year’s programs around the theme of resilience, which they see as an integral component of health and well-being. It is a topic both multifaceted and multidisciplinary, and crucial to understanding current health practices and those we will shape in the future. It gives rise to expansive questions, such as: How do narratives of illness or value systems influence resilience in individuals and communities? In what ways does promoting resilience depend upon accepting vulnerability and limits to our mortality and autonomy, and how can we open dialogues about accepting those limits? Which qualities that promote resilience in individuals are innate, and which can be fostered in communities and networks of health-care settings?

“The Art and Science of Resilience” is just one outcome from the ongoing and highly successful partnership between the Center for Humanities in Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and the Institute for Humanities Research at ASU. Their ultimate goal is to promote collaborations between university campus and clinic to transcend the borders of disciplinary knowledge to encourage advancements in our understandings of health and our approaches to health care. Funded by an anonymous gift through the Dean’s Office in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at ASU, it is entering its second year.

For more information, please contact ihr@asu.edu or call 480-965-3000