The UC Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing Center for Nursing Philosophy and UCI School of Humanities Center for Knowledge, Technology and Society were pleased to co-sponsor their third annual joint colloquium.

The virtual webinar panel presentation was titled “What Are Traditional Medicinal Substances When Separated from Traditional Ways of Life?” The event, held Thursday February 23, 2023, featured Mark Lazenby, Dean and Professor of Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at the University of California, Irvine. Dean Lazenby is an international expert on psychosocial cancer care, has studied the spiritual support of cancer patients from minority religious backgrounds and the implementation of emotional distress screening in routine cancer care.

In this talk, he focused on the trend in integrative health to identify and apply in conventional treatment modalities medicinal substances used, for instance, by indigenous people groups. Dean Lazenby introduced Pierre Hadot’s understanding of “way of life”; to argue that separating a medicinal substance from the way of life in which it had its original application changes the substance’s mechanism of action.

The event was chaired by Tyrus Miller, the dean of the School of Humanities and a Professor of Art History and English focused on the innovative art and literatures of the 20th century. Both Duncan Pritchard, distinguished professor and director of the Center for Knowledge, Technology and Society, and Center for Nursing Philosophy Director and Associate Professor Miriam Bender moderated the Q&A session. There were 82 registrants from across the globe. If you missed it, you can view the event by clicking on the link below.

Watch the lecture: