Building Together Symposium - University of Houston
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Human. Connected. Collaborative.

The inaugural Medicine & Society Symposium will take place on Friday, March 28, 2025 in the Honors College with generous funding from the Prometheus Charitable Trust. 

For 20 years, the Medicine & Society minor has been developing interdisciplinary understandings of health, advancing health equity, and supporting the professional aspirations of UH students in health-related fields. Addressing the challenges and complexities of health and healthcare requires collaboration and creativity.

This one-day symposium brings together current Medicine & Society students, prospective students, faculty, and alumni to:  

  • stimulate new learning  
  • recognize student initiatives 
  • foster new connections 
  • create possibilities 

Together we will explore the intersections between human lives, social worlds, and the making of health. 

If you have any questions, please contact Arlene Macdonald, Director of the Medicine and Society minor, at almacdonald@uh.edu.

REGISTER FOR THE BUILDING TOGETHER SYMPOSIUM

We invite you to attend one or more of the activities--or even just lunch! Join us for whichever activities you can.

symposium schedule

Enrollment for the workshops is limited; register here to secure your workshop choices.

TIME EVENT DESCRIPTION

9 A.M.

Onsite Registration

The Honors College
M.D. Anderson Library, Second Floor

9:30 - 9:50 A.M.

Opening Remarks

TBA
10 - 10:50 A.M.

Workshop Session #1

Session 1a: Kahlo. Pain. Power.

Facilitators: Lesli Vollrath, Robert Liddell

In her diary, Frida Kahlo writes, "Anguish and pain- pleasure and death are no more than a process." What does Kahlo mean when she describes pain as a "process"? How does art offer us a different context for understanding pain? In this workshop, we will explore how pain-as a mental and physical experience- shapes our lives and encounters in the healthcare system. We will then examine several paintings and images from Frida Kahlo's oeuvre to consider the body as a source of pain, suffering, and power.

Session 1b: Telling Stories Visually: An Introduction to Graphic Medicine & Society

Facilitator: Amerisa Waters

Graphic narratives of illness and caregiving convey the complexities of medicine through the pairing of image and text. This workshop introduces participants to the field of Graphic Medicine and will explore a variety of approaches to visual storytelling through comic examples and workshop activities. Participants will be taught the elements and fundamentals of making comics and will learn the power of pairing images and text to share their stories.

11 - 11:50 A.M.

Workshop Session #2

Session 2a: Drawing for Change: Health Activism through Comics Creation

Facilitator: Amerisa Waters

Comics have been used to foster new ways of seeing and exploring the lived experiences in medicine, as well as the social contexts that shape those experiences. Using comics from the HIV/AIDS crisis, this workshop will introduce participants to the ways comics have functioned as advocacy and activism in healthcare. Through workshop activities, participants will learn fundamentals of creating comics to challenge inequity in healthcare.

Session 2b: Her Screams Are Not Important

Facilitator: Ricardo Nuila

In this workshop, we will read Hemingway's short story "Indian Camp" and discuss the patient-doctor relationship as seen through different social contexts raised in the story.

Session 2c: Alumni Panel - Preparing for a Career in Healthcare

Facilitator: Michelle Belco

Meet four graduates of the Honors College Medicine & Society minor who will share their experiences on preparing for a career in healthcare. The varied academic journeys of the panelists will provide a broad range of different experiences to inform the audience. There will be sufficient time for questions after the alumni presentations.

12 - 1 P.M.

LUNCH The Honors College Commons
M.D. Anderson Library, Second Floor

12 - 1 P.M. Building the Future of Health: Student Organization Showcase

Facilitators: Arlene Macdonald, Noelle Nguyen
Meet the UH student organizations that are shaping the future of health! Whether you're passionate about medicine, public health, research, advocacy, or medical humanities, there's a group eager to connect with you. Explore opportunities to deepen your commitment to healthcare excellence, gain insight into the human experience of illness, advocate for health equity, and grow professionally alongside like­minded peers.

Join us over lunch for the Student Association Showcase-grab a bite, meet student leaders, and find your place in UH's vibrant health community!

1 - 1:50 P.M.

KEYNOTE: The People's Hospital: How Public Healthcare & the Humanities Can Reshape Healthcare”
Ricardo Nuila

The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion
M.D. Anderson Library, Second Floor

Where does an uninsured person go when turned away by hospitals, clinics, and doctors? In this talk, Ricardo Nuila takes us inside the Harris Health System and Ben Taub Hospital, where he has practiced for more than a decade. Dr. Nuila will read portions from the book that detail the broken system's effects on his patients, and how the public healthcare system—which emphasizes people over payments—might light the path forward. He'll also detail how the medical humanities helped form this compassionate healthcare system.
2 - 2:15 P.M.

Closing Remarks

The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion
M.D. Anderson Library, Second Floor
Ricardo Nuila

Symposium Keynote: Dr. Ricardo Nuila

Friday, March 28, 2025, 1 - 2 p.m.
Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion
M.D. Anderson Library, Second Floor

Dr. Ricardo Nuila will give the symposium keynote speech:  “The People's Hospital: How Public Healthcare & the Humanities Can Reshape Healthcare.”

Dr. Nuila is the author of the best-seller, The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine, an exploration of patient lives, healthcare policy, and Houston’s safety-net hospital, Ben Taub. He is currently an associate professor of medicine, medical ethics, and health policy at Baylor College of Medicine, a practicing internal medicine doctor and hospitalist serving at Ben Taub Hospital, and a widely published author.  Dr. Nuila was formerly a UH Honors College Medicine & Society professor; we are so pleased to welcome him back!

For more information on Dr. Ricardo Nuila, please visit him on Twitter and at ricardonuila.com.

This event is co-sponsored by The Honors College and The Grand Challenges Forum. 

Facilitators

  • Amerisa Waters

    Amerisa Waters

    Amerisa Waters is a Health Education Coordinator with UK Healthcare's Target 4 Program in Louisville, Kentucky. In this role, she provides community-based HIV testing and Harm Reduction Services, with her work focusing on linkage and continuing care support for unhoused individuals living with HIV. When she is not on outreach, she creates comics-based educational materials and designs and leads comics art workshops in the community. She received her PhD in Medical Humanities from the University of Texas Medical Branch where her research focused on arts-based curriculum development and the contemporary free clinic movement.
  • Ricardo Nuila

    Ricardo Nuila

    See bio above.
  • Lesli Vollrath

    Lesli Vollrath

    Lesli Vollrath teaches the Human Situation course as well as courses for the Medicine & Society and Energy & Sustainability minors. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Houston, where she also earned a certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Vollrath specializes in 19th century American women’s writing, and her research interests also include environmental and health humanities, critical theory, and body studies.

  • Robert Liddell

    Robert Liddell

  • Michelle Belco

    Michelle Belco

  • Arlene Macdonald

    Arlene Macdonald

  • Noelle Nguyen

    Noelle Nguyen