POSTPONED – Talk – 'The Science of Social Justice'

When: March 27, 2020 5:00pm

Due to concerns about the new coronavirus, this event has been postponed until a later date.

Sara King, a post-doctoral scholar in neurology at Oregon Health Science University, will give a talk titled, "The Science of Social Justice: The Impact of Othering and Systemic Discrimination on Communities of Color and the Potential of Mindfulness to Offer Healing."

Internationally renowned scholar of mindfulness Rhonda Magee has described justice as "love in action for the alleviation of suffering." She goes further by stating that "justice begins with our awareness of the present moment, extends through caring for ourselves and show up in the love we bring to our interactions with others and our responses to the social challenges of our time."

About the talk:

With these statements in mind, King will present her research on the "Science of Social Justice." This is a way of utilizing a scientific lens to study (research), teach (facilitate), and offer healing to individuals and communities from the disease of othering as an act of justice – informed by an interdisciplinary framework that merges medical and cultural anthropology, political science, ethnic studies, feminist and queer studies, interpersonal neurobiology, cognitive and affective neuroscience, psychology, socio-linguistics, and public health – and fundamentally grounded in mindfulness and compassion practices in relationship with the self and community.

King will also present on her research with Raina Croff, Ph.D., Oregon Health Science University, that exemplifies the "Science of Social Justice" in action by discussing the present-day impact of gentrification and urban renewal in communities of color and how this has contributed to a modern day health care crisis in terms of the spread of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. She will also discuss the approaches she is developing with Croff at Oregon Health Science University for community-level intervention development to help prevent the spread of Alzheimer's disease involving the use of mindfulness as a non-pharmacological complementary alternative medical approach to create culturally celebratory ways of healing and empowering the hearts, minds, and bodies of our society's most vulnerable populations.

About the speaker:

King is a UCLA-trained neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, social entrepreneur, public speaker and yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor. She has over 20 years of experience as a research scientist, and specializes in the study of the relationship between mindfulness, complementary alternative medicine, nd social justice. King is studying the relationship between stress biomarkers and mindfulness as a non-pharmacological approach to Alzheimer's disease prevention in communities of color. King has also completed a yearlong, 500-hour advanced mindfulness, yoga and meditation teacher training, and she has begun training as a dharma teacher in the Theravada Buddhist tradition at Spirit Rock through their Community Dharma Leader training program this year.


Audience: All
Audience size: Small (1-50)
Price: Free

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Contacts

Cathleen Gearin Center for Regional Food Studies

Requests for disability-related accommodations should be directed to the event's primary contact: Cathleen Gearin