Girls Speak Out forum at Miss Hall’s
Pittsfield – The Berkshire County Commission on the Status of Women, Multicultural BRIDGE, and Miss Hall’s School will present the second Girls Speak Out forum on Monday, April 11, at 5:30 p.m. in the Centennial Hall at Miss Hall’s School. The event is free and open to all.
The forum is geared toward young women and those who identify as young women. Miss Hall’s seniors Benita Muhire and Ubah Ali, interns at Multicultural BRIDGE and Berkshire County Commission on the Status of Women, will present their senior projects. The Rites of Passage and Empowerment (ROPE) group will also attend. The organizers of the event are extending an invitation to young people ages 12 – 21 who identify as women to attend and tell their stories in order to inspire and impact change in the lives of others.
Though the event is free, donations will be accepted and split equally among the three presenting organizations. Space is limited and an RSVP to emily.v@multiculturalbridge.org is requested from those planning to attend. For more information call Multicultural BRIDGE (413) 394-4029.
–E.E.
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Udo Schuklenk to deliver Williams College’s Weiss Lecture
Williamstown — On Tuesday, April 12, Williams College will host its annual Weiss Lecture on Medicine and Medical Ethics at 7 p.m. in Griffin Hall, Room 3. This year’s lecture will be delivered by Udo Schuklenk, professor of philosophy and Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. The event is free and open to the public.
During the 2015 Ebola outbreak, international medical humanitarian aid organizations wrestled with the question of whether or not to offer experimental medical interventions to patients in emergency medical centers. Schuklenk spent several weeks in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the outbreak trying to develop an ethics framework that could provide guidance. In his Weiss Lecture address titled “Catastrophic Illness and Access to Experimental Medical Interventions: Revisiting the 2015 Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak,” Schuklenk will discuss the ethical quandaries concerning informed consent in epidemic situations, prioritizing patients in randomized placebo-controlled trials over those requiring immediate emergency access, and relying on results from non-human primate experiments to treat humans.
Schuklenk is the joint editor-in-chief of Bioethics, the journal of the International Association of Bioethics; and the founding editor of Developing World Bioethics. From 2009 to 2011, he chaired an international expert panel on end-of-life decision-making on behalf of the Royal Society of Canada. His most recent journal contributions include papers in the American Journal of Public Health on mandatory HIV testing and in the Journal of Medical Ethics on religious symbols in doctors’ rooms. Schuklenk holds a Ph.D. from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
For building locations on the Williams campus, consult the online map or call the Office of Communications at (413) 597-4277.
–E.E.
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Little Bellas to begin Pittsfield chapter
Pittsfield – The Little Bellas mountain biking program has selected mountain biking enthusiast, yoga teacher, and former Berkshire Community College Service Learning Coordinator Mary Hannah Parkman of Pittsfield a to head its newest chapter. The all-girls program will run a half-day, one-week camp at Pittsfield State Forest for girls ages 8 – 10 years old from 8 a.m. – noon beginning on Monday, July 25.
Founded in Vermont in 2007 by mountain bike Olympian Lea Davison; her sister, Sabra Davison; and avid cyclist and friend Angela Irvine, the goal of Little Bellas is to help young women realize their potential through cycling. The Pittsfield program will be co-facilitated by Tracy Remelius of Tyringham, the program support coordinator for all 15 Little Bellas chapters across America, and is seeking additional women mentors to serve as positive role models for one or two camp days.
Registration is currently open. For more information, to register, or to inquire about serving as a mentor, contact Mary Hannah Parkman at maryp@littlebellas.com.
–E.E.
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Downing to speak at BCC’s commencement
Lenox — State Senator Benjamin Downing will serve as the keynote speaker at Berkshire Community College’s (BCC) 56th Commencement Exercises, to be held Friday, June 3, at Tanglewood. The event will be free and open to the public.
Senator Downing was elected in 2006 at the age of 24. He was re-elected in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. During his decade of service, Downing, who recently announced that he will not seek a sixth term, has represented 52 communities of the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden District, the largest Senate District in the Commonwealth.
BCC President Ellen Kennedy said, “Throughout his decade of service, Senator Downing has been a familiar face at our institution – always supportive and willing to help. He has been a true friend, not only to BCC, but to so many important institutions and causes in the communities he represents. We are thrilled that he will serve as our keynote speaker during his last term.”
–E.E.
