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The Moral and Intellectual Legacy of Paul Farmer - Symposium



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Harvard Medical School and Harvard University honor the late Dr. Paul Farmer with a memorial and symposium based on his life work and teachings.

Program Schedule
Memorial Program
10 – 11:30 a.m.

Break

Inaugural Symposium
1 – 3:30 p.m.
Welcome and Introduction
Salmaan Keshavjee, Harvard University
Marty Zeve, Harvard University

Beyond Human Rights: Structural Violence and the Health of the Poor
Farmer brought the concepts of structural violence, immodest claims of
causality, and health equity to the center of global health scholarship, research,
and care delivery. His work aimed at a form of praxis that challenged
the social structures that perpetuate violence against the underserved.
Panelists:
Carole Mitnick, Harvard University
Joia Mukherjee, Harvard University
Mercedes Becerra, Harvard University
Kim Sue, Yale University

Ethnographic and Social Medicine Approaches to Social Suffering and Social Care
Ethnography was Farmer’s mode of knowledge generation in his scholarship
and clinical practice. This crucial research methodology, which draws upon
deep observation and participation, history and social context, was foundational
to his work. Ultimately, it framed what he called the “resocialization” of
medicine and care delivery.
Panelists:
Byron Good, Harvard University
Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good, Harvard University
Adia Benton, Northwestern University
Anne Becker, Harvard University
David Jones, Harvard University

Moral Theory of Health Care Delivery: Accompaniment and the Foundations of Health Care Praxis
Farmer shaped a moral philosophy of health care delivery based on the
Haitian Creole aphorism “Tout moun se moun” (Every person is a person). This
philosophy countered what he often considered a utilitarian ethic of false
choices. Instead, he called for an ethic through which care would be distributed
based on need and the dignity of each human being.
Panelists:
Jamaica Kincaid, Harvard University
João Biehl, Princeton University
Haun Saussy, University of Chicago
Vikram Patel, Harvard University
Concluding Remarks
Allan Brandt, Harvard University
Category
Audio
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