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New TC Center to Advance Multimedia Health and Science Education to Foster Health Equity and Academic Achievement
Teachers College will launch its new Center for Health Equity and Urban Science Education (CHEUSE) at its fifth annual Health Disparities Conference, March 15-16
No matter how talented their teachers or how good the instruction, children who are ill, hungry or homeless are highly unlikely to succeed in school. For the past five years, the annual Health Disparities Conference at Teachers College, Columbia University, has explored the connection between the health and psychological issues that accompany poverty, in an attempt to close the achievement gap between the nation’s poor and wealthy students.
On Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16, the 5th Annual Health Disparities Conference at Teachers College, Columbia University, in Cowin Auditorium at 120th and Broadway in Manhattan, will launch as new Center for Health Equity and Urban Science Education (CHEUSE). Through the use of innovative, multimedia strategies, the Center will conduct research and apply evidence-based approaches to health disparities, their connection to success in school, and implications for policy. Co-directors of the conference and the new center are professors Barbara Wallace and Christopher Emdin, faculty members at Teachers College. The conference is part of the 125th Anniversary Celebration of Teachers College and sponsored by the Program in Health Education and the Program in Science Education.
WHAT: 5th Annual Health Disparities Conference at Teachers College, Columbia University.
WHEN: March 15th and 16th (Friday and Saturday), 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. each day
WHERE: Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th St., New York, NY
(Between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave.)
The Program Will Include:
• Opening Plenary Address by Dr. Barbara Wallace - March 15, 9:30 a.m.
• Launch of new Center for Health Equity and Urban Science Education - March 15, 10:30 a.m.
• Keynote Address by Dr. Christopher Emdin - March 15, 11 a.m.
• Keynote Address by Dr. Charles Basch - March 15, 1:45 p.m.
• Keynote Address by Dr. Robert Fullilove – March 16, 9:00 a.m.
• Keynote Address by Dr. David Satcher – March 16, 11:00 a.m.
• Featured Address by Hon. C. Virginia Fields – March 16, 2:15 p.m.
Wallace, Professor of Health Education at Teachers College and co-director of the new center, will deliver the Friday morning opening address on the conference theme, “Using Stress and Coping to Engage in Culturally Appropriate Research, Practice, and Policy.”
Also on Friday morning, Emdin, Assistant Professor of Science Education, who will direct the science education component of the new center, will deliver the morning keynote address on his work on hip-hop culture and health disparities. Charles E. Basch, the Richard March Hoe Professor of Health Education at Teachers College and a leading national expert on closing the achievement gap by improving the health of students in our nation’s schools, will speak on Friday afternoon. In April 2010, Basch published a comprehensive study that found that health-related problems play a major role in impeding students’ ability to learn and succeed in school.
Former Surgeon General David Satcher will speak at the conference and be honored for his work. Additional keynote and plenary speakers include: Prof. Robert E. Fullilove of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; and Former Manhattan Borough President, the Honorable C. Virginia Fields, President and CEO, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS.
Other national leaders will address topics such as: the health and school achievement connection; hip-hop culture and health; and the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. There will be additional speakers from across the nation; special conference tracks such as continuing education credits; panels, concurrent break-out sessions, and a scientific poster session; and a free, community health fair on Saturday from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm, featuring confidential, private and rapid HIV Testing.
The conference will also include talks by expert speakers from across the nation; special conference tracks (e.g. CHES/MCHES track offering 10 Category I continuing education contact hours, and 10 advanced level continuing education contact hours for the fee of $10.00; hip-hop and health track; HIV/AIDS track; vulnerable populations track, etc….); Panels, concurrent break-out sessions, and a scientific poster session; Free Community Health Fair – Saturday from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm – featuring confidential, private Rapid HIV Testing and other varied screenings.
How to Participate: Register online by March 11th at the conference website www.tc.edu/HealthDisparitiesConference. There is no registration fee. Only online advance registration by March 11th ensures receipt of a Conference Program; however, you can register later than March 11th, and walk-in registrants are also accepted. To access a live or archived webcast, go to Webcast Registration at www.tc.edu/HealthDisparitiesConference.
Published Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2013
Dr. Barbara Wallace is a Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Health Education, Coordinator of the Program in Health Education, Director of the Research Group on Disparities in Health, Director of Global HELP (Health Education and Leadership Program), and Director of the Center for Equity in Health within the Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Founder and Director of the Annual Health Disparities Conference at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Christopher Emdin is a professor of science education at Teachers College, Columbia University and a nationally-acclaimed expert on urban public education. He also oversees Secondary School Initiatives at the Urban Science Education Center, which is a research-based institution associated with Teachers College. As leading advocate for reforming public education in urban communities, Dr. Emdin is also a columnist for The Huffington Post and the author of the notable and provocative "Emdin 5" series