Elms College to Host Distinguished Lecture in Culture on Nov. 10

CHICOPEE — The St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion, and Culture (CERC) at Elms College will hold its inaugural Distinguished Lecture in Culture on Wednesday, Nov. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. Due to COVID-19 protocols, this event will be held virtually via Zoom.

The event will feature a keynote speech by Dr. Thea James, associate professor of Emergency Medicine at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine, where she is also president of the Boston Medical and Dental staff, vice president of mission, and associate chief medical officer.

“On behalf of the St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion, and Culture, I am very pleased and honored that Dr. James will deliver the keynote speech at the inaugural Distinguished Lecture in Culture,” said Peter DePergola II, executive director of CERC, Shaughness Family Chair for the Study of the Humanities, and associate professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities at Elms.

According to DePergola, James will address the racial, ethnic, and/or cultural inequalities illuminated by the COVID-19 pandemic as they pertain to scarce resource allocation and equitable healthcare delivery.

The St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion, and Culture was launched in October 2020 to increase engagement and discourse on the most pressing and complex questions related to ethics, religion, and culture in today’s society, and to lead the regional community in thoughtful, engaging dialogue.

“Elms College has a history of uniting individuals together in the common pursuit of addressing fundamental ethical, religious, and cultural issues. This lecture aligns well with Elms’ focus on academic discourse that dates back to the college’s founding in 1928 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield,” DePergola said.

James’ passion is in public health, both domestically and globally. She is director of the Boston Medical Center site of the Massachusetts Violence Intervention Advocacy Program and a supervising medical officer on the Boston Disaster Medical Assistance Team under the Department of Health and Human Services, which has responded to several disasters in the U.S. and across the globe.

James has been part of the emergency response to 9/11 in New York City, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, the earthquake in Iran in 2003, and the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti in 2010.

To register, click here. A Zoom link will be sent to all participants prior to the lecture.