Social Justice Symposium at Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health

For the past four years, students at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health have come together to organize a symposium focusing on social justice issues within the realm of public health. The major aim of the day-long symposium is to bring together a diverse group of people including students, faculty, community members, and health professionals to address and discuss topics relating to social justice and their application to public health. The symposium functions as a venue to raise awareness, expand consciousness, clarify assumptions and exchange critical analysis about how social injustice impacts health outcomes. Students further seek to demonstrate how cross-sectoral partnerships can effectively address health disparities and to engage participants in discourse regarding ways in which social inequality harms the health of the public. The ultimate aim is to inspire action, fostering innovative strategies to promote social equality and improve the public's health. For the fourth annual symposium, the focus is on moving from awareness to action. To this end, invited speakers are individuals actively working in the field of social justice, including an alumnus of the program now working to prevent border crossing deaths. Following the theme of “awareness to action,” attendees have the opportunity to commit to work with various community agencies, who will present their needs based on the time commitment necessary. In past years, this student-run initiative has sparked interest and discussion; the goal now is to spur colleagues and neighbors to take action.