Gaines Center, A&S to host workshop on narrative medicine April 13
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 3, 2023) — Next week, the University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities and UK College of Arts and Sciences will host a workshop on narrative pedagogy, featuring Derek McCracken, a lecturer in Narrative Medicine program at Columbia University
“Telescope, Stethoscope, Kaleidoscope: The Multivalent Art of Pedagogy” will be held 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 13, on Zoom. Register here.
In this interactive workshop, McCracken, a New York-based narrative activist, will demonstrate how contemporary narrative pedagogy thrives in the multiverse of art, literature, theater, medicine, social justice, music, architecture — and even pasta. Since 2018, he has taught Narrative Medicine Pedagogy: Goals, Methods Contexts to students from around the world who are seeking to improve their narrative competency.
“How we see ourselves in relation to others tends to determine how we center our place in the world at large: activist, anarchist, anthropologist, artist — the list goes on and on. But what if we chose a multivalent perspective, one that connects our art-and-science self with a through line of narrative?” McCracken says in his preview for the event.
The event is made possible through a mini-grant from the Gaines Center awarded to Rita Basuray, senior academic coordinator in the College of Arts and Sciences. Basuray was inspired to apply for the mini-grant and invite McCracken to UK after she started a certificate course in narrative medicine at Columbia.
“I teach late starting short courses mixing humanities and science at UK. I didn’t realize that all along, that I was using narrative medicine principles, mixed with modified team-based learning, to teach undergraduate students at UK,” Basuray said. “The UK Gaines Center was offering mini-grants to invite speakers to promote humanities in pedagogy. I saw a perfect fit.”
McCracken’s talk will explore how narrative medicine principles can be applied to various forms of pedagogy, from humanities to science.
“This is where the title of telescope (science), stethoscope (medicine) and kaleidoscope (humanities) comes in,” Basuray said.
The first 30 minutes will feature a discussion led by McCracken, followed by a 30-minute interactive session with participants, including a Q&A at the end.
The workshop is open to the UK community and the public, with a special focus on faculty. After attending the workshop, Basuray says participants should able to apply at least one narrative medicine technique in what they teach, to enhance narrative competency, critical thinking, communication, empathy or worldview in their students.
The workshop is sponsored by the Gaines Center for the Humanities, with special thanks to HIVE Creative & Technical Services in the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Medicine, the Stuckert Career Center and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT).
For more information, contact Basuray at rita.basuray@uky.edu.
The Gaines Center’s mini-grants program provides up to $500 intended to support humanities-related programming and expenses related to speaker fees and/or event logistics. Individuals in any UK college or department are eligible to apply. Questions regarding the Gaines Center’s grant program may be directed to Chelsea Brislin, associate director of the Gaines Center, at 859-257-1537 or clbris4@uky.edu.
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