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Taylor Symposium to highlight health disparities and explore path to achieve health equity

For Immediate Release Feb 13, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS – The state of affairs of health care as it relates to vulnerable populations is tenuous, with challenges abounding when it comes to communication in addressing health disparities and working to achieve health equity among all citizens.

downtown Indianapolis skyline
The annual Joseph T. Taylor Symposium highlights topics of interest to urban communities, particularly communities of color.Photo by Liz Kaye, Indiana University

The 2019 Joseph T. Taylor Symposium at IUPUI, titled “Communicating for Health Equity at the Crossroads of America,” explores these challenges as they relate to populations in the city and the role that communication does – or could – play within the various channels, organizations, agencies and more.

Free presentations and workshops will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Feb. 20, in the IUPUI Campus Center, 420 University Blvd. A luncheon will follow the sessions; there is a fee for that portion of the event.

A luncheon keynote address titled “The Importance of Communication in Achieving Health Equity” will be presented at noon by former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders. The luncheon will also include the presentation of the Joseph T. Taylor Excellence in Diversity Awards by IUPUI Chancellor Nasser H. Paydar.

Community participants include:

  • Antoniette M. Holt, director of the Office of Minority Health at the Indiana State Department of Health.
  • Darrin K. Johnson, executive director of Brothers United Inc.

IUPUI faculty in the program include:

  • Carrie Foote, associate professor of sociology at the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.
  • Krista Hoffmann-Longtin, assistant professor of communication studies at the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.
  • Kim White-Mills, associate professor of communication studies at the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.
  • Helen Sanematsu, associate professor of visual communication design at the Herron School of Art and Design.
  • Katharine Head, assistant professor of communication studies at the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.

The annual event honors the late Joseph T. Taylor, the first dean of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, for his many contributions to the university and to the greater Indianapolis community. It highlights topics of interest to urban communities, particularly communities of color.

Morning symposium sessions, held in the theater on the lower level of the Campus Center, are free and open to the public, but advance registration is required by emailing .

The noon luncheon will take place in Room 450 of the Campus Center. For additional information, visit the Taylor Symposium website.

Media Contact

IU Newsroom

John Schwarb

Senior Communications Specialist/Content Strategist, IUPUI

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