Rebecca Skloot to Speak on her Bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Adelphi University Ruth S. Ammon School of Education’s Robert and Augusta P. Finkelstein Memorial Lecture and College of Arts and Sciences’ John Hope Franklin Distinguished Lecture are pleased to present award-winning science writer Rebecca Skloot, author of the bestselling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, on Monday, October 17, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. in the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom in the Ruth S. Harley University Center, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY. This is free and open to the public.

Ms. Skloot will discuss her most recent book which tells the story of a young black woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951 but left behind an immortal line of cells known to scientists today as HeLa. These cells were harvested without Henrietta Lacks’ knowledge or consent and have contributed to scientific advancements including the polio vaccine, treatments for multiple cancers and viruses, in-vitro fertilization, and space travel’s impact on human cells. Ms. Skloot guides readers through Henrietta’s life, death, and immortality. Additionally, the work has raised important questions about religion, bioethics, medical care, memory, and history.

Ms. Skloot’s lecture is part of Adelphi Community Reads, a yearlong investigation of the Skloot book, coordinated by the AU Collaboration Project. Events are designed to engage both students and community members in conversation about the book: freshman seminar and FOrE classes, President Scott’s Reading Circle which will host two brown bag discussions (October 5 and November 9), and an online book club and blog moderated by Bradley Warshauer M.F.A. ’11 will feature Adelphi President Scott’s ideas and questions raised by this work. The Adelphi community and Levermore Global Scholar students will also be coordinating activities with the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health related to education, health care access, and housing issues. For the full schedule of events and activities, visit collaboration-project.adelphi.edu/read/.

Tickets are not required to attend this event. Seats for all events are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and are open to all members of the public. Copies of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks are available in University libraries and multiple language copies are in Swirbul Library.

For more information about this and other events on campus, please visit adelphi.edu, or call the Cultural Events Hotline at 516.877.4555.