Chronic illness and disability can be transformative experiences within the human lifespan. Yet, these experiences can also reveal taken-for-granted norms concerning what it means to be human: What does it mean to have a “normal” or “healthy” body? What do we need to flourish? What is most essential about us? Who are we in relation to others? Such questions contain ontological (what is the nature of being?) and ethical (what should we do?) dimensions. In their own ways, both medicine and theology provide answers to these questions through systems of belief and practice. In this presentation, Dr. Devan Stahl will explore how medicine and theology have shaped contemporary interpretations of disability and chronic illness and how the field of theological bioethics brings these conversations together. Drawing on her experience as a healthcare organizations and congregations, and how these institutions shape our beliefs about what it means to be human.
Dr. Stahl’s lecture will be followed by a response offered by Dr. Quentin Genuis (St. Paul’s Hospital and Regent College).
This lecture will be held at Regent College’s Chapel (5800 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 2E4) from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. As on previous occasions, we will host a pre-lecture reception featuring appetizers, charcuterie, and pastries from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM. RSVP recommended by emailing houstoncentre@regent-college.edu.
In addition, it will be recorded and subsequently posted on our YouTube channel and on the Recorded Lectures section of our website.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Devan Stahl is an Associate Professor of Bioethics and Religion at Baylor University and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Education, Innovation, and Technology at the Baylor College of Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in Health Care Ethics from St. Louis University and her M.Div. from Vanderbilt University. She specializes in theological bioethics, disability ethics, and the visual arts within medicine. Dr. Stahl also volunteers as a clinical ethicist consultant for the Supportive and Palliative Care Team at Baylor, Scott, and White Hillcrest and has trained as a hospital chaplain. Dr. Stahl is the cohost of the popular podcast Bioethics for the People, now in its sixth season. She is the author and editor of several books, including Imaging and Imagining Illness: Becoming Whole in a Broken Body (Cascade Books), Disability’s Challenge to Theology: Genes, Eugenics, and the Metaphysics of Modern Medicine (Notre Dame Press), and Bioenhancement Technology and the Vulnerable Body: A Theological Engagement