Central faculty members Paulina Mena, associate professor of biology; Oscar Reynaga, lecturer of Spanish; and Paul Weihe, associate professor of biology, will present “Faith in the Vaccine” with student ambassadors from Interfaith Youth Corps from 7-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, in the Boat/Moore rooms of Maytag Student Center.
The presentation is part of the 2021-22 Central Lecture Series with a focus on responsible citizenship and is open to the public.
Faculty and student ambassadors will discuss the history and science of vaccines; the psychology of risk; whether we have a duty as citizens to be vaccinated; and how to effectively communicate vaccination benefits. This will be an informal and interactive discussion of why “vaccine hesitancy” exists, despite centuries of public health success.
Mena has been with Central since 2009 and is an expert in understanding how organisms adapt to their environment and what role their chromosomal architecture plays in that process. Reynaga is an expert in Latin American and Latina/o literature; Mexican and Chicana/o literature and cultural studies; and film theory and media studies. He has been with Central since 2007. Weihe is an expert in wetland ecosystems, ethnobotany, ecology and environmental science and has been with Central since 1998.
