Multiple members of the Hope College campus community will participate in an interdisciplinary panel discussion about the water crisis in Flint on Monday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
A broad range of disciplines will be represented from the arts and humanities, natural and applied sciences, and social sciences. The panel has been organized by the upper-level Keystone Seminar of the college’s Women’s and Gender Studies program.
“The event will be an opportunity to consider what’s happened and how we might respond as a community from multiple perspectives,” said Dr. Julie Kipp, who is a professor of English and the course’s instructor. “I’d like for the panel on February 8 to provide us with an occasion for a broader initiative, a challenge to each department and student group involved or present to do something on the ground appropriate to their discipline.”
The panelists will be addressing the topic based on a two-part question: “What does your discipline have to teach us about this crisis, and how might thinking through your disciplinary lens inform our response?” Each member of the panel will speak for up to five minutes, with the last 30 minutes of the event reserved for questions and further discussion.
The members of the faculty will be participating as panelists are: Dr. Carrie Bredow, assistant professor of psychology; Dr. Annie Dandavati, who is a professor of political science and chairperson of the department, and director of international studies; Dr. Aaron Franzen, assistant professor of sociology; Dr. Heidi Giannini, assistant professor of philosophy; Dr. Chuck Green, professor of psychology; Dr. Fred Johnson, associate professor of history; Rob Kenagy, assistant professor of English; Hope College President John C. Knapp; Dr. Graham Peaslee, who is the Elmer E. Hartgerink Professor of Chemistry and professor of geology and environmental science; Dr. Joanne Stewart, professor of chemistry; Katherine Sullivan, associate professor of art; and Dr. Debra Swanson, professor of sociology. Also included in the panel will be Katlyn Koegel, a Hope junior from Flint Township. Kipp will serve as moderator.
The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., between 10th and 13th streets.