The Department of Health Studies Seminar

Kate Pickett, PhD

The University of York-Dept. of Health Sciences

Sr. Lecturer in Epidemiology

&

Richard G. Wilkinson

The University of Nottingham

Researcher of Social Inequalities in Health

Monday, January 11, 2010

12:00 p.m.

**AMB W-229**

5841 S. Maryland Ave.

Based off of the book:

“The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger”

Wilkinson and Pickett will make the case that the income gap between a nation's richest and poorest is the most powerful indicator of a functioning and healthy society. Amid the statistics that support their argument (increasing income disparity sees corresponding high prevalence of homicides, obesity, drug use, mental illness, anxiety, teenage pregnancies, high school dropouts—even incidents of playground bullying), they take an empathetic view of our ability to see beyond self-interest. While there are shades of Darwinism in the human hunt for status, there is evidence that the human brain—with its distinctively large neocortex—evolved the way it has because we were designed to be attentive to, depend on, and be depended on by others. Wilkinson and Pickett will not advocate one way or the other to close the equality gap. Government redistribution of wealth and market forces that create wealth can be equally effective, and they will provide examples of both. How societies achieve equality, they will argue, is less important than achieving it in the first place.

Persons with a disability who believe they may need assistance should call 2-2453 or e-mail cmartinez@health.bsd.uchicago.edu