Religion and public health are not often considered together, in scholarship or in practice. Each community may regard the other with skepticism or give them little thought at all. And yet, religious practices and communities around the globe have a daily impact on their health of their populations, and in some quarters there are long-standing partnerships between faith communities and public health agencies. This conference brings together scholars in public health, religious studies, theology, medicine, nursing, law, ethics, anthropology, and sociology to discuss the new book, Religion as a Social Determinant of Public Health (Oxford University Press, 2014), and map the sometimes contentious, sometimes cooperative intersection of these two sectors.
In the fall of 2010, Ellen Idler, Director of the Religion and Public Health Collaborative and Professor of Sociology, convened an interdisciplinary faculty seminar at Emory that explored both the positive and negative intersections of religion and public health. Faculty from the schools of public health, theology, medicine, nursing, and the graduate school met monthly, discussing the complex relationship of religion and public health, two institutions that often share common interests but sometimes find themselves in opposition. What was clear at the outset was this: religion was an invisible and unacknowledged but utterly crucial social determinant of public health. Over the next 3 years, this book was written by this amazing group of scholars; in these pages, there are 35 voices that speak to practice, history, the lifecourse, global health, epidemics, and the future. Published on September 1, 2014 by Oxford University Press, the edited volume entitled Religion as a Social Determinant of Public Health is the definitive book for this field of inquiry.
[accordion] [spoiler title=”View the Conference Videos” style=”fancy”]Dr. William Foege
Dr. Ahmed Ragab
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Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, PhD. Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, School of Law, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
John Blevins, ThD. Associate Research Professor of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Matthew Bersagel Braley, PhD. Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy, Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Peter J. Brown, PhD. Professor of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Walter M. Burnett, PhD. Professor of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
James R. Cochrane, PhD. Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
James W. Curran, MD, MPH. Dean and Professor of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Safiya George Dalmida, PhD. Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Wesley de Souza, PhD. Arthur J. Moore Associate Professor in the Practice of Evangelism, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Laura Gaydos, PhD. Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
George H. Grant, PhD. Clinical Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Gary R. Gunderson, DDiv, MDiv. Vice President, Division of Faith and Health Ministries, Wake Forest Baptist Health, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Kenneth Hepburn, PhD. Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Carol J.R. Hogue, PhD, MPH. Jules and Uldeen Terry Professor of Maternal and Child Health and Professor of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Lynn Hogue, PhD. Professor of Law Emeritus, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Ellen Idler, PhD. Professor of Sociology and Director, Religion and Public Health Collaborative, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Theodore M. Johnson II, MD, MPH. Paul W. Seavey Chair in Medicine and Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Mimi Kiser, DMin, MPH. Assistant Professor of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Emmanuel Y. Lartey, PhD. Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Counseling, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Bhagirath Majmudar, MD. Professor of Pathology, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Deborah A. McFarland, PhD, MPH. Associate Professor of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Jose Montenegro, MDiv. Chaplain, Emory Center for Pastoral Services, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD. Senior Lecturer in Religion and Director, Emory-Tibet Partnership, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Brendan Ozawa-de Silva, PhD. Associate Professor of Psychology, Life University, Marietta, Georgia.
Chikako Ozawa-de Silva, PhD. Associate Professor of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Patricia Page, MS, CGC. Director, Genetic Counseling Services, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Laurie L. Patton, PhD. Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Eric Reinders, PhD. Associate Professor of Religion, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Don E. Saliers, PhD. William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology Emeritus, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Scott Santibañez, MD, MPH, TM, MA. Associate Director of Science, Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infection, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.
Karen Scheib, PhD. Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Pastoral Theology, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Don Seeman, PhD. Associate Professor of Religion, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Phillip Thompson, PhD. Executive Director, Aquinas Center of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Sandra L. Thurman, MA. Director, Interfaith Health Program and the Joseph Blount Center for Health and Human Rights, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Paul Root Wolpe, PhD. Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Bioethics and Director, Center for Ethics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Kathryn Yount, PhD. Asa Griggs Candler Chair of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.