Schemel Forum Collaborative Programs Set for Fall

The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum will present two eclectic Collaborative Programs this fall.

On Thursday, Oct. 13, Julie Byerley, M.D., dean of the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM), president of Geisinger College of Health Sciences and executive vice president and chief academic officer, Geisinger, will present “Threats to Equity: The Influence of Social Determinants on Human Behaviors that Promote Well-being.” Co-sponsored by GCSOM, the program will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Brennan Hall’s Rose Room, and will also be streamed remotely.

A pediatrician by training, Byerley’s former clinical practice was focused on the care of adolescents with fatigue, chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Combining her interest in health habits that help combat these conditions with a drive to enhance overall health equity, she’ll examine how social determinants influence behaviors that improve well-being. Attendees will be encouraged to consider how daily habits influence the health of individuals and communities alike.

Admission to the program is free for University students, faculty and staff and Schemel Forum members. For non-members, the fee is $25 per individual and $50 per couple for in-person, and $10 per individual and $20 per couple for remote-only. To register, contact Kym Fetsko at 570-941-7816 or kym.fetsko@scranton.edu. Or, to pay online, visit www.scranton.edu/schemelforum.

Then, on Friday, Nov.18, the Schemel Forum will partner with the Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library to present the Royden B. Davis, S.J. Distinguished Author Award Event honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated playwright, novelist and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar. The event begins at 6 p.m. in the DeNaples Center’s McIlhenny Ballroom. Reservations are required to attend, and ticket prices vary.

Akhtar is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Edith Wharton Citation of Merit for Fiction, and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the author of “Homeland Elegies,” which The Washington Post called “a tour de force” and The New York Times called “a beautiful novel…that had echoes of ‘The Great Gatsby’ and that circles, with pointed intellect, the possibilities and limitations of American life.” His first novel, “American Dervish,” was published in over 20 languages. His plays include “Junk,” “Disgraced,” “The Who & The What” and “The Invisible Hand.”

For more information on the Distinguished Author Award Event, visit scranton.edu/authaward or contact Kym Fetsko at 570-941-7816 or kym.fetsko@scranton.edu.

For more information on Schemel Forum programs and memberships, contact Sondra Myers, Schemel Forum director, at 570-941-4089 or sondra.myers@scranton.edu.