Principal Investigator: Travis Alexander

Project title: Health Aesthetics: An Art Exhibition and Discussion

Project description: This spring, the Medical Humanities Research Institute will display the artworks of Pato Hebert, a multimedia visual artist based in New York whose work explores issues of health, culture, and identity. Alongside the opening of Pato’s works will be a discussion with scholars including Amanda Caleb and Megan Voeller on the role of creative works such as Pato’s in medical humanities research and teaching. These events will be open to Rice and the public.

Principal Investigator: Anthony Brandt (Shepherd School of Music, Rice University)
Co-Principal Investigators: Jose-Luis Contreras-Vidal (University of Houston BRAIN Center),
Elkhonon Goldberg (Luria Neuroscience Institute)

Project title: Balinese Gamelan research project

Project description: Dr. Brandt (Professor of Composition) is collaborating with Jose-Luis Contreras-Vidal (Director, University of Houston BRAIN Center), Elkhonon Goldberg (Director, Luria Neuroscience Institute) and faculty at Udayana University and the Art Institute Denpasar in Bali to conduct the first mobile brain-imaging and neuro-chemical studies of gamelan music. Students from Rice’s Shepherd School of Music and the University of Houston will work alongside Balinese engineering and music students to conduct the research.

Principal Investigator: Kirstin Matthews (Baker Institute, Rice University)
Co-Principal Investigator: Ana S. Iltis (Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University)

Project title: Medical Interpreter Narratives

Project description: Non-English speakers, the non-verbal, and the deaf and hard of hearing can be at a disadvantage when trying to access health care or medical treatment and often rely on the services of others to interpret what healthcare providers are telling them and to make their own needs and questions understood. Professional interpreters provide a crucial connection point between patient and healthcare professional for the accurate sharing of important information. This project will develop and disseminate an open-access collection of narratives from interpreters regarding their experiences and the challenges they face.