Medical ethicist Washington to speak for Ted Rose Lecture Series

The Spring 2022 Ted Rose Lecture Series kicks off with a talk by Harriet Washington discussing “Environmental Racism in the Age of COVID-19” on Thursday, Feb. 17, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. via Teams.

The event is being sponsored by the African American Studies and History departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Division of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Washington is a medical ethicist and award-winning author, focusing on environmental racism and medical consent. Her book “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present,” won the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. She has written five other books, most recently “Carte Blanche: The Erosion of Informed Consent in Medical Research.”

“Harriet Washington has a long history of shining a light on issues facing African Americans, and we’re excited to hear insights,” associate professor and chair of the African American Studies department Bayyinah Jeffries, Ph.D., said.

Washington is a prolific academic whose work has been featured in medical books and peer-reviewed journals. She is a Writing Fellow in Bioethics and a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, a visiting scholar at DePaul University College of Law, and a senior research scholar at the National Center for Bioethics at Tuskegee University.

"Dr. Vattel ‘Ted’ Rose was an associate professor in African American Studies from 1978 to the early 2000s. As chair of the department, he helped to build a legacy of excellence that still resonates today. During his tenure at Ohio University, Rose led the department for almost two decades and ensured its continuation long after his retirement," Jeffries said.

The annual Ted Rose Lecture Series provides opportunities to recognize nationally- and internationally-recognized scholars in or closely affiliated with the discipline of African American Studies. These lectures introduce the Ohio University community to people who have contributed to the close examination and understanding of African and African American life, history and culture.

The lecture will take place virtually on Microsoft Teams. Those interested in attending can register here.

The lecture aligns with this year’s Black History Month theme, Black Health and Wellness. Visit here for more information on other Black History Month events.

Next in the Ted Rose Lecture Series is Power of Black Lives Matter: American Liberalism and Inequality After George Floyd on March 3.

See more Ted Rose Lecture Series news.