“Justice In Health as a Faith Imperative” with Dayna Bowen Matthew, JD, PhD

About the lecture: America has grappled with its commitment to equal justice for all since our nation's founding. While countless community leaders, legislators, judges, scholars, politicians, presidents and activists have all worked tirelessly over 400 years to realize the truth of our founding aspirations, we have yet to live up to the truth that "all are created equal [and] . . . are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." Nowhere is this more apparent than in the deeply divided health outcomes that separate us by race, ethnicity, geography, ability, mental health status, gender identity, and more. In fact, this lecture begins from the premise that our society is only as just as it is healthy. Missing from our quest for equality, is a full appreciation of the Biblical mandate for justice in each of the social determinants that predict health outcomes. This lecture will explore how achieving justice in American health is the imperative of all believers and the key to achieving liberty and justice for all.

About the speaker: Dayna Bowen Matthew, JD, PhD, is the Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. A leader in public health and civil rights law who focuses on disparities in health, health care, and the social determinants of health, Dean Matthew joined GW Law in 2020. She also is the founder and inaugural faculty director of GW’s newly chartered Equity Institute, an interdisciplinary research hub dedicated to addressing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic injustice. A prolific writer, Dean Matthew is the author of two bestselling books, “Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care,” and the recently released “Just Health: Treating Structural Racism to Heal America,” and the co- author of a case book on public health law, ethics, and policy.

Following Dean Matthew's lecture, we invite attendees to a cocktail hour and reception. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Sponsored by the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School and co-sponsored by the Center on Law, Race & Policy at the Duke University School of Law, the Purpose Project at Duke, and the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Host or Publisher Duke Divinity School Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative