09/11/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/11/2024 14:28
KOKOMO, Ind. - Need a break from Facebook? Tired of bingeing YouTube videos?
Go Screenless!
Indiana University Kokomo Chancellor Mark Canada will host Screenless - two hours of reading, sketching, journaling, and social time - on the third Thursday of each month at the Kelley House.
"The world is larger than your screen," he said. "Come here and start to live it!"
From 3 to 4 p.m., books from the chancellor's extensive library, along with pencils and sketch books, will be available, and attendees are welcome to bring their own reading or art materials. Then, from 4 to 5 p.m., a guest artist, musician, scholar, craftsperson, or local leader will offer a program.
The first edition of Screenless, set for Thursday, September 19, will feature Dr. Richard Gunderman, who will discuss poet Walt Whitman's experience tending to soldiers during the Civil War.
"Arguably not only America's greatest poet but also a founder who deeply understood what it means to be an American, Walt Whitman chose to spend more than three years of his life serving voluntarily at the bedside of wounded and sick Civil War soldiers, bringing gifts and good cheer and helping them write letters to their loved ones," said Gunderman. "Why did Whitman, who was not a man of independent means, deem this a worthy use of his time? What did he hope to contribute there, and what did he learn? How can Whitman's experiences help us to lead more caring and fulfilling lives?"
Gunderman, chancellor's professor of radiology, pediatrics, medical education, philosophy, liberal arts, philanthropy, and medical humanities and health studies at Indiana University, also serves as the John A. Campbell Professor of Radiology.
He received his AB Summa Cum Laude from Wabash College, MD and Ph.D. (Committee on Social Thought) with honors from the University of Chicago, and a Master of Public Health from IU. He was a Chancellor Scholar of the Federal Republic of Germany and has received honorary doctoral degrees from Garrett Theological Seminary at Northwestern University and Wabash College. He is a 10-time recipient of the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award, and in 2015, received the Indiana University School of Medicine's inaugural Inspirational Educator Award.
He is the author of more than 1,000 articles, and has published 15 books, including We Make a Life by What We Give (2008), Tesla (2019), Marie Curie (2020), and Contagion (2021). He has served as president of both the medical staff at IU Health and the faculty at IU School of Medicine.
Canada, who earned a Ph.D. in English, will discuss the works of Edgar Allan Poe at the October gathering.
Education is KEY at Indiana University Kokomo.