Jefferson Humanities & Health

Monday, August 18, 12-1PM, Scott Memorial Library 200A. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Bring your questions about how to write about the Humanities programs you plan to attend during this academic year. Leave with fresh ideas about how you might turn your impressions into thoughtful, creative reflections as you complete your Asano portfolio. We will focus mostly on written reflections, but will also touch on other forms of creative response to the events, topics, and experiences you will be collecting as an Asano candidate. You will leave this workshop with examples of concise essays and poems that might inspire your own reflections. We will also discuss how a reflective practice could help you grow and thrive throughout your career as a healthcare professional.

Led by Shawn Gonzalez, PhD, Assistant Director for Writing Services, Office of Academic & Career Success.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Programs Coordinator.

Monday, August 31, 12-1PM, Scott Memorial Library 200A. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Bring your questions about how to write about the Humanities programs you plan to attend during this academic year. Leave with fresh ideas about how you might turn your impressions into thoughtful, creative reflections as you complete your Asano portfolio. We will focus mostly on written reflections, but will also touch on other forms of creative response to the events, topics, and experiences you will be collecting as an Asano candidate. You will leave this workshop with examples of concise essays and poems that might inspire your own reflections. We will also discuss how a reflective practice could help you grow and thrive throughout your career as a healthcare professional.

Led by Shawn Gonzalez, PhD, Assistant Director for Writing Services, Office of Academic & Career Success.

Participants who attended the Asano Humanities Portfolio session on August 18 and August 31 for Asano credit may not count this session towards Asano credit.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Programs Coordinator.

Tuesday, September 1, 12-1PM, Scott Memorial Library 200A. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Join us for a discussion of an excerpt from the memoir Brother Epistles by Dr. Shanda McManus.

On a Philadelphia street in 1992, Shanda McManus’s brother Monir was killed in a drive-by shooting. Three decades later, still haunted by his murder, McManus traces her brother’s life through their upbringing in North Philadelphia, Monir’s teen fatherhood and stint in the U.S. Army to support his young sons, and finally, his participation in the drug trade. In Brother Epistles, a series of intimate letters, McManus writes as both sister and physician, blending social commentary, memory, and collective history to lament the fragility of Monir’s life while demanding an American reckoning for the socioeconomic structures responsible for so many young Black men dying through homicide. 

Copies of Brother Epistles will be available for students at the discussion. Participants will be notified when the reading becomes available.

Facilitator:

Katherine Hubbard, MA, Teaching Instructor, JeffMD Humanities Selectives, Sidney Kimmel Medical College.

Participants are expected to read, and come prepared to discuss, the text selected for each session. To access the reading, participants must visit the Health Humanities Reading Group module in the Jefferson Humanities & Health organization on Canvas or the JMD 153 or the JMD 252 Asano Certificate courses on Canvas. Most Asano students are already users in these Humanities & Health Canvas courses. If that is not the case, participants may email Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

About the Health Humanities Reading Group:

The Health Humanities Reading Group gathers regularly to think critically about health as it is understood through various disciplinary perspectives, social contexts and value systems. This ongoing program is open to students, faculty and staff, and offers an informal learning environment facilitated by participants. Participants are expected to read, and come prepared to discuss, the text selected for each session.

Monday, September 14, 5-6:30PM, Bluemle Life Science Building, Room 107. Light dinner provided. Open to Jefferson students.

In the first workshop of this series, we will focus on grounding and centering skills. The group will utilize art, music and movement and each participant will leave with a set of tools and skills that can be applied as needed throughout the school year.

Facilitated by Peggy Tileston, MT-BC and art therapist Sondra Rosenberg.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC)

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Tuesday, September 15, 12-1PM, Eakins Lounge, Jefferson Alumni Hall. Lunch provided while supplies last. Open to all.

Shanda McManus, MD, grew up in Philadelphia and has practiced family medicine for over twenty years. Dr. McManus received her B.A. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.D. from Sidney Kimmel Medical College. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, where she champions the practice of Narrative Medicine. Dr. McManus writes about the intersection of life, race, and was privileged to be a 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices fellow. Her debut memoir, Brother Epistles, is an epistolary work — a series of intimate letters to her brother Monir, killed in Philadelphia while she was a first-year medical student at Jefferson.

Three decades later, Dr. McManus traces Monir's life through their shared upbringing in North Philadelphia, his teen fatherhood, his time in the U.S. Army, and finally, his participation in the drug trade — writing always as both sister and physician. Braiding grief, memory, social commentary, and collective history, Brother Epistles asks what it means to bear witness to Black life, loss, and survival from inside both a family and a white coat. The book laments the fragility of Monir's life while demanding an American reckoning for the socioeconomic structures responsible for so many young Black men dying through homicide. Leavened with humor, family love, and unconquerable Black joy, it is a heartbreaking and powerful meditation on Black identity, the criminalization of Black boys, and the devastating ripple effects of loss on the loved ones left behind.

During 2026-2027, the Jefferson Humanities Forum hosts multidisciplinary scholars and thinkers to investigate the theme of Movement.

Co-presented by Jefferson Humanities & Health, the Philadelphia University Honors Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, and the College of Humaniteis & Sciences

For more information, email Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator, Student Affairs.

Wednesday, September 16, 12-1PM, Hamilton Room 505. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty and staff.

Join Dr. Salvatore Mangione's presentation on the five books that gave physicians their professional identities.

This talk will revisit the five books that gave physicians their professional identity, the first three of which are actually linked to the old medical school of Padua: 1)Vesalius' Fabrica; 2) Harvey's De Motu Cordis; 3)Morgagni's De Sedibus; 4) Laennec's Auscultation Médiate; 5) and Virchow's Cell Pathology. These 5 books not only provided physicans with anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, physical exam, and pathology – i.e. the foundations of the first three years of medical education in Europe -- but also taught physicians skepticism, the scientific method, clinico-pathologic correlation, bedside diagnosis, and the need to always challenge authority and remain both culturally eclectic and socially active.

Presenter:

SALVATORE MANGIONE, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the SKMC of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where he also directs the Humanities and History of Medicine courses.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, September 21, 12-1PM, Bluemle LIfe Science Building, Room 107. Lunch provided. Opent o Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

In this Anti-Racism in Health Focus discussion, learn to define microaggressions and the steps one can take to disarm their effects.

A microaggression is an unintentional and unconscious action that can negatively affect our day-to-day human interactions. They cause real harm to individuals. There is a large amount of evidence that it can be a major factor in the creation of disparities in the healthcare environment that can ultimately lead to patient-care disparities. In this session, we will define microaggressions, its documented effects in medicine, the concept of silent collusion, and the steps one can take to disarm the effects of microaggression.

At the end of the session, the attendees will be able to

• Define microaggressions.

• Give two examples of how microaggressions affect the patient care environment.

• Define “silent collusion.”

• Name at least three techniques to address a witnessed microaggression.

Facilitator: Bernard L. Lopez, MD, MS, CPE, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Thomas Jefferson University.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, HUmaniteis Program Coordinator.

Tuesday, September 22, 12-1PM, Eakins Lounge, Jefferson Alumni Hall. Lunch provided while supplies last. Open to Jefferson students, faculty and staff.

Daniel de Jesús (They/He) is a composer and songwriter who weaves visual and sonic tapestries with a mesmerizing touch. Drawing from medieval and baroque aesthetics, their art pulsates with vibrant colors and deep symbolism, often inspired by Latin American Baroque themes. With a degree in fine art from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, they exhibit extensively across the Mid-Atlantic region and share insights in published books.

In music, de Jesús crafts dramatic compositions blending tribal beats, ambient soundscapes, and passionate vocals, earning acclaim in Baroque pop and Neo-Goth genres. They've released nine studio albums and collaborate widely with renowned figures like David Antonio Cruz and Courtlyn Carr. Their performances span global venues such as Park Ave. and Millennium Park Theater, captivating audiences. Currently, as Music Education and Community Outreach Director for AMLA at Esperanza, they champion Latin music and culture, particularly among youth in the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley region.

The Humanities Concert Series is made possible through a generous gift from Deborah L. August, MD, MPH and Robert H. Rosenwasser, MD, FACS, FAHA.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Wednesday, September 23, 4-5PM, DEC Forum, Lawrence N. Field DEC Center, 4201 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia. Open to all.

Shanda McManus, MD, grew up in Philadelphia and has practiced family medicine for over twenty years. Dr. McManus received her B.A. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.D. from Sidney Kimmel Medical College. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, where she champions the practice of Narrative Medicine. Dr. McManus writes about the intersection of life, race, and was privileged to be a 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices fellow. Her debut memoir, Brother Epistles, is an epistolary work — a series of intimate letters to her brother Monir, killed in Philadelphia while she was a first-year medical student at Jefferson.

Three decades later, Dr. McManus traces Monir's life through their shared upbringing in North Philadelphia, his teen fatherhood, his time in the U.S. Army, and finally, his participation in the drug trade — writing always as both sister and physician. Braiding grief, memory, social commentary, and collective history, Brother Epistles asks what it means to bear witness to Black life, loss, and survival from inside both a family and a white coat. The book laments the fragility of Monir's life while demanding an American reckoning for the socioeconomic structures responsible for so many young Black men dying through homicide. Leavened with humor, family love, and unconquerable Black joy, it is a heartbreaking and powerful meditation on Black identity, the criminalization of Black boys, and the devastating ripple effects of loss on the loved ones left behind.

The Honors Literary Salon will discuss Brother Epistles for the Fall 2026 semester. Interested students should check the Honors Canvas site for more information about book pickup, dates, and cornerstone eligibility.

During 2026-2027, the Jefferson Humanities Forum hosts multidisciplinary scholars and thinkers to investigate the theme of Movement.

Co-presented by Jefferson Humanities & Health, the Philadelphia University Honors Institute at Thomas Jefferson University and the College of Humanities & Sciences.

For more information, email Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator..

Wednesday, September 30, 12-1PM, Scott Memorial Library 200A. Open to Jefferson students. Lunch provided.

Join us for Painting and the Healthcare Professional: Leaning into One's Strengths to Manage Challenges of the 21st Century with Steven J. Alles, MD, MFA, MS. Learn about yourself from the experiences of an edgy artist and former public health physician. Understand your strengths and instincts in becoming a science driven healthcare professional. Recognize moral injury and review ways to deal with it.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator..

Friday, October 2, 12-1PM, BLSB 107. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty and staff.

In this Anti-Racism in Health Focus talk, learn how Africans, Arabs, and East Asians laid the foundation for modern immunizations.

In the early eighteenth century, European medical practitioners and slave owners learned of smallpox inoculation from West Africans and Arabs for the first time. They quickly appropriated the practice to control the spread of smallpox along Atlantic slave trading routes throughout Europe, West Africa, and the Americas. They used inoculation to protect their families, safeguard colonial settlements, and expand the slave trade and slavery. Nevertheless, Africans and their descendants continued to perform inoculations in contexts where slavery and colonialism constantly threatened their social ties. In the process, people of African descent imbued inoculation with new significance as they struggled to maintain authority over the practice and protected and reaffirmed their communities’ intergenerational ties to place, ancestry, and kin.

Presenter: Dr. Elise A. Mitchell is a historian of the early modern Black Atlantic in the Department of History at Swarthmore College.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator. 

Monday, October 5, 12-1PM, Scott Memorial Library 200A. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Bring your questions about how to write about the Humanities programs you plan to attend during this academic year. Leave with fresh ideas about how you might turn your impressions into thoughtful, creative reflections as you complete your Asano portfolio. We will focus mostly on written reflections, but will also touch on other forms of creative response to the events, topics, and experiences you will be collecting as an Asano candidate. You will leave this workshop with examples of concise essays and poems that might inspire your own reflections. We will also discuss how a reflective practice could help you grow and thrive throughout your career as a healthcare professional.

Led by Megan Voeller, Director of Humanities.

Participants who attended the Asano Humanities Portfolio session on August 18 and August 31 for Asano credit may not count this session towards Asano credit.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Programs Coordinator.

Monday, October 5, 5-6:30PM, Bluemle Life Science Building, Room 107. Light dinner provided. Open to Jefferson students.

In this in-person workshop, participants will use art, sound, movement, and mindfulness practices to anchor in our connection to the natural world. Participants are asked to please bring a photo of or an actual item from nature that you are drawn to or connect with, and paper/something with which to write. Weather permitting, we may do some of these exercises outdoors.

Facilitated by Peggy Tileston, MT-BC and art therapist Sondra Rosenberg.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC)

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Wednesday, October 7, 12-1PM, Scott Library 200A. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Wendy Elliott-Vandivier, an artist and long-time disability advocate, will present information on her experiences as an artist and disability activist. She will show examples of her cartoons that focus on disability awareness and some of the microaggressions that disabled people experience as they try to live their ordinary, “un-inspirational” lives. She also will conduct a hands-on cartoon making workshop where attendees can create their own art about microaggressions, ableism and other forms of discrimination.

Wendy Elliott-Vandivier is a certified SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) with a diverse background in government civil rights enforcement, managing human resources in private industry, and community advocacy. Elliott-Vandivier has been a leader in the disability civil rights community for over 30 years. In her professional work, she has successfully managed human resources, employee relations, EEO, Affirmative Action and Diversity issues for several large businesses.

Before joining the private sector, Elliott-Vandivier worked for nine years for the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, where she managed the agency’s Regional Technical Assistance Staff. She played a lead role in the implementation of federal civil rights statutes in a six-state region.

Her strong commitment to enhancing opportunities for women, minorities and people with disabilities extends beyond her professional experience. She is a former Board Member of the American Association of People with Disabilities, and the former Chair of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities, where she advised the Mayor and Assistant Deputy Mayor with respect to existing and proposed policies, programs, and services for people with disabilities, and informed the public at large about the needs of the disability community. She was also the Co-founder of MOM Center (Making Options for Motherhood) at Thomas Jefferson University.

Elliott-Vandivier has a BFA from Temple University, Tyler School of Art. Her paintings explore issues of family, memory and experiences as a disabled woman. Her autobiographical cartoons focus on attitudinal barriers and stereotypes regarding disabilities, and some of the micro-aggressions that disabled people experience while living normal, un-inspirational lives. She is also a photographer of micro-scale monuments in nature, and is often inspired by close-up images that people often do not notice in daily life – tree bark, dead leaves, flower anatomy, and water.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Tuesday, October 13, 12-1PM, Jefferson Alumni Hall, Room 207. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

Join us for Our Words Matter: A Guide to Reducing Stigma and Bias in Clinical Communication, facilitated by Dr. Megan Healy, MD, Professor, Clinical Emergency Medicine, Assistant Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

Dr. Healy will review best practices in patient-centered languate to reduce stigma, improve the patient-physician alliance, and advance health equity.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator..

Monday, October 19, 12-1PM, Jefferson Alumni Hall, Room 207. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty and staff.

How does racism affect all aspects of the Social Determinants of Health and what are Philadelphia's health outcomes by neighborhood?

The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) play a significant role in individual and population health outcomes. SDOH is affected by many factors. One factor is racism as it affects all aspects of SDOH. In this session, we’ll define racism, examine its history as it relates to the social determinants of health, and examine the city of Philadelphia’s health outcomes by neighborhood. 

Objectives – at the end of the session, learners will be able to: 

Define the institution of racism and its many forms, including structural racism 

List 5 components of the Social Determinants of Health 

Discuss the importance of structural competency 

Discuss examples of structural racism’s effects as a barrier to health equity 

Facilitator: Bernard L. Lopez, MD, MS, CPE, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Thomas Jefferson University.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Thursday, October 22, 12-1PM, Hamilton 224/225. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

We all have a soundtrack that marks the many chapters of our lives. Teaching artist Josh Robinson will facilitate a reflection through your musical past, your stories, and the role music has played throughout your life. The workshop uses music as a vehicle to help participants connect to others and reconnect to themselves. Participants will be guided to reflect on the meaning of various songs in their lives and how music has helped them through both positive and negative experiences.

About the facilitator

Josh Robinson is a professional percussionist, teaching artist, and drum facilitator. He has been a visiting instructor in the Humanities at Thomas Jefferson University for the past eight years and is in his sixth year as the Humanities artist-in-residence. For the past 23 years, Josh has used his skills, expertise, and life experience to share drumming and the many gifts it brings with thousands of people each year around the country. Learn more about Josh at joshrobinsondrums.com.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, November 2, 5-6PM. Zoom. Open to Jefferson students.

Participants will be guided through a series of practices designed to bring peace and calm by connecting with the breath, body and creative spirit. Facilitated by Peggy Tileston, MT-BC.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Please note: This workshop will take place online and is open to Jefferson students only; pre-registration required. Particpants will be sent a Zoom link at a later date. If you register and cannot attend, please cancel at least 24 hours in advance to make room for another participant. Thank you!

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC).

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, November 9, 12-1PM, Hamilton Room 505. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty and staff.

In this Anti-Racism in Health Focus discussion, learn to define the concept of race, the institution of racism, and race-based medicine.

In this Anti-Racism in Health Focus introduction to the history of racism in medicine, participants will learn to

• Define the concept of race
• Define the institution of racism and its many forms including structural racism
• List 3 specific examples of racism in medicine
• Explain race-based medicine and describe examples of how it contributes to structural racism

Facilitator: Bernard L. Lopez, MD, MS, CPE, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Thomas Jefferson University.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Wednesday, November 11, 12-1PM, Scott Memorial Library 200A. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Bring your questions about how to write about the Humanities programs you plan to attend during this academic year. Leave with fresh ideas about how you might turn your impressions into thoughtful, creative reflections as you complete your Asano portfolio. We will focus mostly on written reflections, but will also touch on other forms of creative response to the events, topics, and experiences you will be collecting as an Asano candidate. You will leave this workshop with examples of concise essays and poems that might inspire your own reflections. We will also discuss how a reflective practice could help you grow and thrive throughout your career as a healthcare professional.

Led by Megan Voeller, Director of Humanities.

Participants who attended the Asano Humanities Portfolio sessions on August 31 or October 5 for Asano credit may not count this session towards Asano credit.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Programs Coordinator.

Monday, November 30, 5-6PM, Zoom. Open to Jefferson students.

In order to effectively care for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This virtual workshop will introduce you to a variety of art-based experiences designed to promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Facilitated by art therapist Sondra Rosenberg.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Please note: This workshop will take place online and is open to Jefferson students only; pre-registration required. A Zoom link will be provided at a later date. If you register and cannot attend, please cancel at least 24 hours in advance to make room for another participant. Thank you!

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC).

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.