Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series 2009-2010
Fall 2009
James S. Jackson
University of Michigan's Daniel Katz Distinguished Professof Psychology, Health Behavior & Health Education, School of Public Health, & Director of the Institude for Social Research.
"The Self-Regulation of Health Behavivors: The Environmental Affordances Framework"
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.
Campus Center, rm 163
Jackson's research includes studies of race relations and racism in an international, comparative perspective; studies of the influences of race and ethnicity on the mental health of black Americans; and studies of health and aging among African Americans. He has introduced methodological innovation in all three of these substantive areas. His historical, cultural, and social-psychological studies have greatly increased our understanding of race relations around the world.
He is currently directing the most extensive social, political behavior, and mental and physical health surveys on the African American and Black Caribbean populations ever conducted, “The National Survey of American Life” and the “The Family Survey across Generations and Nations”, and the National Science Foundation and Carnegie Corporation supported “National Study of Ethnic Pluralism and Politics”. A superb teacher and administrator, he has been a dedicated mentor of scores of graduate students who are now among the most influential scholars in the country.
This lecture is presented by the Department of Psychology and co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and the Center for Public Policy and Administration
Harold G. Koenig, M.D., MHSc.
Duke University Medical Center: Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science & Associate Professor of Medicine; Founding Co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology & Health
"Religion, Spirituality and Health: Are they related and What does it mean?"
Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.
The Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union
Religious and spiritual factors are increasingly being examined in psychiatric research. Religious beliefs and practices have long been linked to hysteria, neurosis, and psychotic delusions. However, recent studies have identified another side of religion that may serve as a psychological and social resource for coping with stress. After defining the terms religion and spirituality, this lecture reviews research on the relation between religion and/or spirituality, and mental health, focusing on depression, suicide, anxiety, psychosis, and substance abuse. The results of an earlier systematic review are discussed, and more recent studies in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other countries are described. While religious beliefs and practices can represent powerful sources of comfort, hope, and meaning, they are often intricately entangled with neurotic and psychotic disorders, sometimes making it difficult to determine whether they are a resource or a liability.
Dr. Koenig completed his undergraduate education at Stanford University, his medical school training at the University of California at San Francisco, and his geriatric medicine, psychiatry, and biostatistics training at Duke University Medical Center. He is board certified in general psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry and geriatric medicine.
He has published extensively in the fields of mental health, geriatrics, and religion, with over 300 scientific peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and nearly 40 books in print or in preparation. His latest books are (1) Faith and Mental Health (2005), (2) Kindness and Joy (2006), (3) Spirituality in Patient Care, 2nd edition (2007), and Medicine, Religion and Health (2008) (all by Templeton Press). Koenig's research on religion, health and ethical issues in medicine has been featured on many national and international TV news programs, nearly a hundred national or international radio programs, and hundreds of newspapers and magazines. He has also given testimony before the U.S. Senate (1998) and U.S. House of Representatives (2008) concerning the benefits of religion and spirituality on public health.
This lecture is co-sponsored by Bay State Health Systems, the Five College Council on Religious Life, the UMass Amherst Center for Public Policy and Administration, the UMass Amherst Office of Jewish Affairs, and the UMass Amherst Religious Affairs Committee.
The Tay Gavin Erickson Lectures began in 1999 though an endowment established in memory of Tay Gavin Erickson.
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