Bestselling Author, Raj Patel, Will Speak on Latest Book at Delaware Valley University as Part of One Health Initiative

Delaware Valley University (DelVal) is pleased to welcome award-winning author, filmmaker and academic, Raj Patel, as a speaker for the University’s spring 2023 One Health Seminar Series. The seminar, “Food System Meet Health System,” will take place on Wednesday, March 29 at 6 p.m. in the Life Sciences Building auditorium on DelVal’s campus and will discuss his latest book, co-authored with Rupa Marya, Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice. The presentation is open to the public at no cost.

“We invited Raj Patel to present at DelVal because of his ability to transcend traditional academic boundaries and apply a holistic approach with a true ethics of care to global issues and problems such as food insecurity, climate change and, in his most recent co-authored book, to health – an approach that resonates with our One Health initiative,” said DelVal’s Dean for the School of Business and Humanities, Dr. Tanya Casas.

His most recent book, which will be discussed at the One Health Seminar, reveals the links between health and structural injustices--and offers a new deep medicine that can heal human bodies and the world. The book takes readers on a medical tour through the human body―the digestive, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems. Unlike a traditional anatomy book, it illuminates the hidden relationships between human biological systems and the profound injustices of political and economic systems.

Patel’s presentation at DelVal is funded by the Connections Planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which was awarded to the English Department at the University in the spring of 2022. As part of the NEH grant, DelVal is in the process of creating a minor in One Health Communications.

“One of the most prominent initiatives at DelVal today is One Health, which offers programming designed to infuse a multi-disciplinary approach to attain optimal well-being for the environment, animals and society. The NEH Connections Planning grant, entitled ‘Science and Rhetoric,’ is allowing us to elevate the role of the humanities, particularly English and rhetorical studies, within the One Health initiative through the development of an interdisciplinary minor that explores issues related to writing, communications and rhetoric within the science and the health fields,” said Dr. Brian Lutz, Chair of English.

Following Patel’s presentation at DelVal, there will be a book signing at the University’s bookstore. All are welcome and Patel’s books will be available for purchase.

About Raj Patel

Award-winning author, filmmaker and academic, Raj Patel is a research professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He has degrees from the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University. He has testified about the causes of the global food crisis to the US, UK and EU governments and is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems. In 2016 he was recognized with a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award. His second book, The Value of Nothing, was a New York Times and international best-seller.

About One Health

One Health is a multi-disciplinary approach that works locally, regionally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal well-being for people and society, the environment and plants, and animals. Together, the three major components make up the One Health triad, and the well-being of each is inextricably linked to the others in the triad.

The One Health Seminar Series at DelVal brings speakers to campus to address a variety of One Health-related topics. The lectures are open to the public at no cost.

Click here for more information about DelVal's One Health Seminar Series