Perspectives for Inclusion

In September 2024, Deputy Dean for Collaborative Excellence Darin Latimore, MD, announced the launch of a new lecture series, “Perspectives for Inclusion,” and encouraged the entire community to take part. The series is sponsored by the YSM Advocates for Collaborative Advisory Excellence (ACE) Council and the YSM Office of Collaborative Excellence (OCE).

Perspectives for Inclusion is a lecture series creating insight, exploration, and reflection. Delve into the role each of us plays in creating an inclusive environment. Yale School of Medicine invites leading experts to offer a broader field of vision, and deeper understanding, of the communities we belong to and serve.

Find coverage of past events, below.

David Blight: “Yale and Slavery: A History”

In his talk on Sept. 24, 2024, Yale historian David Blight spoke about his book, Yale and Slavery: A History. He described his discussions with then-President Peter Salovey about launching the Yale and Slavery Research Project, the major historical events leading up to the university’s examination of its own past, the research process, and some of its striking discoveries. Read More

Panel: Confronting History, Rebuilding Trust

Following David Blight’s lecture on the findings of the Yale and Slavery history project, YSM convened a panel of faculty to discuss efforts to confront that history, restore, rebuild trust, and build authentic community -- including in caring for the New Haven community and in creating partnerships with HBCUs. Read More

Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez: From ‘Imposter’ to Activist

In connection with Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, author Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez shared her experiences in higher education, from growing up in a Nicaraguan neighborhood in Miami, to becoming the first in her family to attend a four-year college, to attending graduate school at a predominantly white university. Read More

Ned Blackhawk on “The Rediscovery of America”

On Dec. 11, 2024, Yale historian Ned Blackhawk, PhD, discussed his fourth book The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, a transformative narrative of five centuries of U.S. history with Indigenous peoples at its center. The book has won numerous awards and accolades, including the 2023 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Read More

Willie Jennings: A Dream of Peace

On Feb. 6, 2025, in celebration of Black History Month, Yale Professor of Divinity, Reverend Willie James Jennings, PhD, delivered a lecture titled, “From Equality to Belonging,” and explored the legacy of Black life in America and the search to secure a reality of equality that opens to a shared sense of belonging. He asked, what does it mean for Yale University to share in that legacy as we educate future leaders? Read More

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau on Resilience, Vulnerability, and Trust

On March 17, 2025, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau gave a talk titled, “A Woman’s Resilience: Inclusion and Belonging from a Mental Health Perspective,” in honor of Women’s History Month. The former unofficial first lady of Canada, Trudeau is an acclaimed TV and radio journalist, and a tireless advocate for mental health, female empowerment, emotional literacy, and conscious leadership. She shared insights from her book, Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other, in which she offers fresh and educational perspectives on mental health and brain health, woven together with candid insights and life lessons from her own personal journey. Read More

OiYan Poon: “Asian American is Not a Color”

On May 13, 2025, in honor of AAPI Heritage Month, the educator, scholar, and author OiYan Poon discussed her book, Asian American is Not a Color, in which a mother seeks to answer her daughter’s questions about race. It is informed by extensive research and interviews with Asian Americans with contrasting viewpoints, and provides a heartfelt and optimistic vision for the future. Read More

Antonia Coello Novello on a Life of Service

The 14th Surgeon General of the United States spoke about her book, Duty Calls: Lessons Learned from an Unexpected Life of Service on Sept. 16, 2025, in celebration of Hispanic & Latine Heritage Month. Novello’s story is one of enduring commitment to public health and leadership, including becoming the first woman and first Hispanic person to serve as Surgeon General, a long career with the NIH, serving as New York State Commissioner of Health during 9/11, and coordinating health care resources in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More