Dr. Paul Farmer will present the Griffith Honors Forum Lecture 'Rethinking Health and Human Rights' at SDSU on Thursday, Nov. 19, in the Performing Arts Center. Free tickets required for the lecture can be obtained from the Honors College.

Dr. Paul Farmer, the subject of the 2009 South Dakota State University common-read text, "Mountains Beyond Mountains," will deliver the Griffith Honors Forum Lecture this Thursday, Nov. 19, in the Performing Arts Center.

The program begins at 7 p.m. Doors will open for ticketed seating in the Larson Concert Hall at 6:45 p.m. with overflow seating available in the Fishback Studio Theatre. Tickets will not be available at the door.

Free tickets are available by e-mailing Sandra.Newman@sdstate.edu or by calling the Honors College office at 605-688-5268 .

Dr. Farmer, a Harvard professor, infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist and recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant," has spent his career fighting infectious disease among the world's poor in places like Russia, Peru, Rwanda and Haiti.

During a career spanning more than 25 years, Farmer has worked tirelessly to close the gap in access to high quality medical care for people regardless of their geographic location or economic condition. Campus-wide read

More than 1,100 students on the SDSU campus have been reading the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder, "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World."

Political science students as well as microbiology, nursing and English students have been discussing the book and its story in light of their class subject .

"Students have taken part in order to enhance their awareness of contemporary issues, expose them to diverse people and ideas, engage them with their university community and imbue in them a sense of all that is possible," said Honors College Dean Tim Nichols. Fairness demands access to resources

Farmer's talk "Rethinking Health and Human Rights" will address the AIDS epidemic as the leading infectious cause of young adult death in much of the developing world, often because of inequities in risk and care.

"Good outcomes," Farmer said, "access to essential resources and a commitment to equity will help reverse the healthworker 'brain drain,' strengthen primary health, restore trust in the health sector and launch social cycles that can lift entire families and communities out of desperate poverty." Collection for project

Student-tended tables will be set up in the Performing Arts Center to collect donations for Farmer's Boston-based Partners in Health, an organization he co-founded in 1987 to provide pioneering treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV in Haiti. Today the organization's mission is to provide a preferential option globally for the poor in health care.

Farmer has dedicated his life to treating some of the world's poorest populations and in the process, help raise the standard of health care in underdeveloped areas of the world.

"We hope reading and participating in several on campus and community events and activities can finally empower students with the understanding that indeed, one person can make a difference," said Nichols.

The Griffith Honors Forum Lecture brings nationally renowned speakers to the SDSU campus through support from the William Mibra Griffith and Byrne Smith Griffith Foundation.

The lecture is organized by the SDSU Honors College, which offers opportunities for students at SDSU to pursue an honors course of study leading to an undergraduate degree from any college and major.

More information on the Griffith Honors Forum Lecture or the Honors College can be obtained from Nichols at 605-688-5268 .

For the complete article see the 11-16-2009 issue.

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