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“Instructions for Living a Life” by Kathy Meacham and Ira Sloan
March 17 @ 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
“Instructions for Living a Life” will be presented by Kathy Meacham and Ira Sloan at the Sunday, March 17, 2024 meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30-4:00 PM, at Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Road, Asheville, NC. We hope you will attend in-person. There will also be a Zoom connection. All are welcome to attend.
“Pay attention. Be Astonished. Tell about it.” This stanza from Mary Oliver’s poem “Sometimes” is at the core of being aware, living in the “now” and thinking ethically. Kathy and Ira teach medical students about ethical thinking and moral imagination versus risk aversion. Moral imagination means envisioning the full range of possibilities, including new and creative alternatives in a particular situation, in order to solve an ethical challenge. Acting morally requires more than just strength of character; it requires compassion, empathy and the awareness to discern what is morally relevant in a given situation. Join Kathy and Ira to elevate your moral imagination, creativity and moral courage as we seek to act more ethically in society.
Kathy Meacham, Ph.D., is the recently retired, Co-Director of Ethics & Humanism at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Asheville Campus (@MAHEC). She is a Professor Emerita in Philosophy from Mars Hill University, with academic degrees from Temple University (Ph.D. and M.A.), Harvard University (Ed.M.), and Eckerd College (B.A.).
Ira Sloan, M.D., is the recently retired Co-Director of Ethics & Humanism at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Asheville Campus (aMAHEC). He is a semi-retired Psychiatrist, licensed in NC. He is Emeritus Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Professor, Evanston Hospital, for Northwestern University Medical School. Dr. Sloan earned his B.A and M.D. from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana and Chicago. Ira also teaches at the OLLI College for Seniors on magic, Zen and the Art of Balloon Twisting, and medically-related topics.