For our October Narrative Medicine Rounds, the Program in Narrative Medicine is honored to present Siri Hustvedt, who is one of the leading American writers of the 21st century. A new book by the publisher DeGruyter, entitled "Zones of Focused Ambiguity in Siri Hustvedt’s Works," edited by Johanna Hartmann, Christine Marks, and Hubert Zapf, has just been released, and Hustvedt will speak about the ideas and analysis within the new collection. The book brings together essays from various...

In December 2014, Mother Jones senior reporter Shane Bauer took a job as a corrections officer at a Louisiana prison run by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the country’s second largest private-prison company. During his four months on the job, Bauer would witness stabbings, an escape, lockdowns and interventions by the state Department of Corrections as the company struggled to maintain control over 1,500 inmates. He was paid $9 an hour and was placed in a unit where he and...

Elisabeth L. Rosenthal, a New York Times correspondent who trained as a medical doctor, is the author of Paying Till it Hurts, an award-winning 2 year-long series on health care costs and pricing. She is currently completing a book about the commercialization of American medicine, to be published by Penguin Random House early in 2017. During 20 years as a reporter/correspondent for the New York Times, she has covered a wide variety of beats – from health care to international environment to...

George Yancy is Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. He received his BA with honors in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, his first Master's Degree from Yale University in Philosophy and his second Master's in Africana Studies from NYU, where he received a distinguished Fellowship. His Ph.D (with distinction) is in Philosophy from Duquesne University. He has authored, edited or co-edited 17 books. His first authored book received an Honorable Mention from the Gustavus...

Helena Hansen, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Medical Center, and an Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Dr. Hansen is also a documentary film- maker. Her most recent film is “Managing the Fix,” a documentary on race, class, and addiction pharmaceuticals. The film follows three people in New York City as they go on and off of opioid medications (methadone and Suboxone) and navigate the fragmented public addiction treatment system, raising questions about the ontological...

Colum McCann is the author of six novels and three collections of stories. His most recent collection, "Thirteen Ways of Looking" has received rave international reviews, including a Pushcart Prize and selection in the Best American Short Stories of 2015. In her review, The New York Times critic Sarah Lyall praised the author: “Mr. McCann is a writer of power and subtlety and beauty best known for his National Book Award-winning novel “Let the Great World Spin,” which took a large cast of...

In her new book, “The Lioness in Winter: Writing an Old Woman's Life,” noted social worker Ann Burack-Weiss, PhD, LCSW, draws on the late-life writing of authors like Maya Angelou, Colette, Joan Didion, Doris Lessing and Adrienne Rich for inspirational and practical guidance as she navigates aging. The longtime social work practitioner, consultant and educator who has taught at the Columbia School of Social Work and is now an associate faculty member at Columbia's Program in Narrative...

What is beauty? It’s a question fashion photographer Rick Guidotti often asked himself during the many years he worked for clients such as Yves Saint Laurent, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. In a moment of serendipity, Guidotti walked by a young woman with Albinism (a genetic condition that results in loss of pigmentation) at a New York City bus stop, and wondered why she wasn’t considered beautiful in his other world. This exploration resulted in a Life feature of young women with Albinism smiling...

Over the past decade Esopus has held true to its mission to “feature content from all creative disciplines presented in an unmediated format,” and in its most recent issue, the magazine explored the intersection between the world of medicine and the world of art by showcasing work by artists, physicians, poets, phlebotomists, musicians, dentists and nurses, among others. This program brings together Esopus editor Tod Lippy, who will talk about putting together Esopus 22: Medicine, as well as...

In his presentation, “All About Family Life: Living with Disability,” Akhil Sharma kicks off our monthly Narrative Medicine rounds for Fall 2015. He will talk about writing his most recent book, Family Life, which won the 2015 Folio Prize and was selected as one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2014. Sonali Deraniyagala called it “deeply unnerving and gorgeously tender at its core,” adding “Family Life gives us beautiful, heart-stopping scenes where love in [a] family...

May 6, 2015 - Susan Ball, M.D., Author Assistant Director of the Bernbaum Unit, Center for Special Studies at New York Presbyterian Hospital Author of Voices in the Band: A Doctor, Her Patients, and How the Outlook on AIDS Care Changed from Doomed to Hopeful (http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Band-Patients-Outlook-Politics/dp/0801453623/) Voices in the Band is discussed in New York Times Article, A World Shared With H.I.V....

April 8, 2015 - Cheryl Mattingly, Educator Professor of Anthropology & Occupational Science and Therapy Acted Stories: Narrative Form and the Clinical Encounter Cheryl Mattingly, Ph.D., is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology and the Division of Occupational Science and Therapy, University of Southern California. She is currently a Dale T. Mortensen Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Aarhus University. Her primary research and...

The Season of Migration The lyrically told story of one of the world's greatest artists finding his true calling. Nellie Hermann, M.F.A. is Creative Director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. She is a graduate of Brown University and the M.F.A. program at Columbia. Her first novel, The Cure for Grief(Scribner: 2008), received acclaim in such publications as Time Magazine, Elle, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and others, and was chosen as a Target "Breakout"...

Leslie Jamison is the author of The Empathy Exams, a New York Times bestselling essay collection, and a novel, The Gin Closet, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times First Fiction Award. Her work has appeared in Harper’s, Oxford American, A Public Space, Boston Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, and the New York Times, where she is a regular columnist for the Sunday Book Review. She was raised in Los Angeles and currently resides in Brooklyn. Will Boast is the author of a memoir,...