‘Perspectives from Public Health & Theology: COVID-19’

The 2020 Flannery Webinar

SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga University’s Fall Flannery Webinar will feature a panel discussion titled, “Perspectives from Public Health & Theology: COVID-19,” at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28. The webinar is free and open to all; registration is required at https://bit.ly/3noE1Tu.

The featured panelists include:

Shawnee M. Daniels-Sykes, RN., Ph.D., professor of theology at Mount Mary University, will speak from the perspective of medicine and theology. In particular, she will discuss the impact of COVID-19 upon communities of color and some of the implications of that for our social and political structures.

Teresia Hinga, Ph.D., associate professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University, will discuss how we might think theologically about the virus in the global context. A Kenyan, she brings an African perspective to the topic and will also discuss implications of the virus disproportionately impacting communities of color, especially in the United States.

Bob Lutz, M.D., M.P.H., health officer for the Spokane Regional Health District, will present medical and public health perspectives about the virus and the local context in Spokane.

John Sheveland, Ph.D., professor of religious studies and Gonzaga’s current Flannery Chair of Catholic theology, will moderate the discussion. Each panelist will speak for 15-20 minutes, with some interaction among the speakers, before fielding questions from the audience.

The endowed Flannery Chair of Roman Catholic Theology is made possible through a gift of the late Maud and Milo Flannery of Spokane to further the excellence of theological study and teaching at Gonzaga. Gonzaga invites an outstanding theologian to deliver the Flannery Lecture.

For more information, please contact Gonzaga’s religious studies department at (509) 313-6782 or religiousstudies@gonzaga.edu.