Three Indiana University Northwest faculty members creating a medical humanities curriculum for the Gary campus, as well as at IU South Bend and IU Kokomo, are one of the winners of the inaugural IU Regional Campus Grand Challenges Initiative.
Grand Challenges are defined in IU's Strategic Plan as "major and large-scale problems" facing humanity that can "only be addressed by multidisciplinary teams of the best researcher."
Professor Susan Zinner is with the IU Northwest School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the co-principal investgator for the Health Studies Consortium. Professor Jonathyne Briggs is chairman of the IU Northwest Dept. of History, Philosophy, Political Science and religious Studies and a co-principal investigator for the Health Studies Consortium. IU Northwest SPEA Professor Monica Solinas-Saunders is working on the quantitative portion of the project. The three professors came into the "Regionally Speaking" studio on Thursday to talk about the project and how it can improve northwest Indiana's health, education and economy. Here's the conversation, beginning with Professor Zinner's explanation of the Grand Challenges Initiative's goals.
