Host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined via Skype by Professor Christopher Emdin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology at Teachers College—Columbia University, where he also serves as Director of Secondary School Initiatives at the Urban Science Education Center. The author of Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation, Emdin and Neal discuss pedagogical strategies for making S.T.E.M. Research interesting and attractive for urban students, and the role of urban environments in inspiring such research.
Later, Neal is joined in the Left of Black studios by Professor Gary Bennett, a clinical psychologist and social epidemiologist. Bennett is Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University where he is Director of the Duke Obesity Prevention Program (DOPP) & member of the Duke Global Health Initiative. Bennett and Neal discuss the obesity epidemic in Black communities and its impact on health disparities. Also, Bennett and Neal converse about the increased importance of mobile technology in allowing patients to have better outcomes with regards to their health. Finally Bennett addresses the importance of HBCUs in creating a pipeline for the next generation of S.T.E.M. researchers.
Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University. Episodes of Left of Black are also available for free download in HD @ iTunes U
