UM-Flint to host acclaimed scholar, Dr. Jonathan Metzl, for keynote on health politics

The University of Michigan-Flint College of Health Sciences will host acclaimed author and professor, Dr. Jonathan Metzl, for a series of campus events, Oct. 22, including a keynote titled "Protest Psychosis: What the Race-Based Overdiagnosis of Schizophrenia in the 1960s Reveals about the Health Politics of Today."

Metzl, a physician, psychiatric sociologist, and director of medicine, health and society at Vanderbilt University, is nationally recognized for his work on the intersection of race, mental health and American society.

His keynote event, open to the public, is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the Harding Mott University Center's KIVA Auditorium. A book signing will follow in the Happenings Room.

The keynote will address the historical overdiagnosis of schizophrenia among Black Americans, exploring how past injustices continue to impact health care policy and practice today. Metzl is also widely cited for analyzing gun violence, health disparities, and structural competency in higher education.

Earlier in the day, Metzl will conduct a faculty session at 10 a.m. in the College of Health Sciences Dean's Conference Room (William S. White Building 3166). At noon, students are invited to an exclusive lunch with the speaker in the Intercultural Center.

"Students attending the lunch will be able to engage in conversations with Dr. Metzl on how society and politics impact health care practices," said Dean Donna Fry, CHS dean. "During the faculty session, those faculty with teaching and research interests in health care policy will be able to explore the intersection of health care practice with politics and culture and discuss how this evolves over time."

Metzl is the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry at Vanderbilt and an award-winning author whose books include "Dying of Whiteness" and "What We've Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms." His work has received recognition, including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book Award and the American Psychiatric Association's Benjamin Rush Award for Scholarship.

All events are in-person only and free to attend. The keynote is open to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the wider Flint community. The visit is co-sponsored by the UM-Flint College of Health Sciences and the Office of University Advancement.

For more information on Dr. Metzl's work, visit his website. Learn more about the event and RSVP online.