31While much of the research on HIV/AIDS is conducted by biologists and health experts dedicated to finding a cure, a new University program seeks to include humanities scholars in the discussion of the deadly disease.
The Institute of Humanities is launching a new program called “Crossing the Diag: Humanities in Dialogue” with inaguaral events taking place throughout this week. The program will bring scholars from various departments of the University, such as science and public policy, to hold discussion panels focusing on AIDS for faculty and students to attend.
Most of the program’s panel members will be faculty from the humanities and bio-medical health departments. The purpose of the program is to bring together diverse participants to strengthen their research.
The panelists, who will come with previous knowledge and research experience will be discussing the route of the AIDS epidemic and possible solutions. Researchers will also use the information from the panel discussions for individual research.
Daniel Herwitz, director of the Institute of Humanities and an organizer of the program, said the scope of the AIDS epidemic requires people to work together from different departments.
“AIDS requires all resources of society,” said Herwitz.
Spending eight years working with the AIDS epidemic in South Africa helped Herwitz realize the need for understanding research from multiple perspectives.
“HIV is not just a science issue. It’s a human and science issue.”
The events this week are also in coordination with World AIDS Day, which was yesterday.