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Ongoing events
Meetup | Health and science communications research methods
Coming Fall 2023
Get together regularly with researchers within the vibrant health and science communication research community here at Harvard to exchange knowledge, refine your communication skills, and foster new connections.
Join us! Sign up now
Meetup | Health journalism ‘bonfires’
Coming Fall 2023
Gather around the “bonfire” to critique award-winning examples of health journalism—and learn how to improve your own storytelling along the way.
Join us! Sign up now
Upcoming events
Seminar | Unprecedented: Lessons learned from covering fast moving pandemics
Wednesday, September 20 | 1:00–1:50 pm ET | Kresge 502
Featuring Apoorva Mandavilli, science and health journalist at the New York Times
This is an on-campus event; lunch will be provided.
Past events
Creators Summit on Mental Health @ Harvard Chan School
August 3-4 / all day
In August 2023, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will reconvene leading creators from our 2023 Creators Summit on Mental Health for an exclusive in-person followup. Participating creators will engage with experts and clinicians at Harvard and beyond to talk about cutting-edge research and policy prescriptions, learn key evidence-based health communication principles, and share their communications expertise with our campus community. Learn more about our agenda.
Top social media influencers on how to build a successful social-video channel
Friday, August 4 / 1:00—1:50 pm / Kresge 502 and virtual
Join top mental health influencers for a discussion about how to effectively use TikTok and other social platforms to communicate health information and inspire audiences to act.
This special all-access event, intended for Harvard students and staff, was part of the Center for Health Communication’s invitation-only Creators Summit on Mental Health.
Creators Summit on Mental Health
April 5-28 / Virtual
Throughout April 2023, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will convene an exclusive group of leading mental-health creators for a virtual summit. Participating creators will engage with experts and clinicians at Harvard and beyond to talk about cutting-edge research, emerging policy prescriptions, and critical new resources in mental health. And help shape the future of mental health communication.
Explore the summit and meet our participating creators.
Spring workshop | Learn to use TikTok to share health and science information
Tuesday, March 21 and April 4 / 5:30-8:o0 pm ET
Student workshop | From Act Against AIDS to Let’s Stop HIV Together: The 14-year evolution of an HIV campaign
Thursday, March 23 / 1-1:50 pm ET
Lessons learned about framing, priority audiences, and unintended effects from Jo Ellen Stryker, Chief of the Prevention Communication Branch in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Panel + Networking Hour | Careers in Health Communication
Wednesday, March 22 / 5:30-7:00 pm ET
AMA | New York Times global-health reporter Stephanie Nolen
Wednesday, March 22 / 1-1:50 pm ET
You’ve got questions about how journalism works. Stephanie Nolen, a journalist at the New York Times, has answers. Join this special ask-me-anything event to get your questions answered.
Student workshop | TikTok, Gen-Z influencers, and the child tax credit: Lessons for public health
Wednesday, February 8 / 1-1:50 pm ET
Featuring Mikka Kei Macdonald, creative director, Community Change, and Ashwath Narayanan, founder + CEO, Social Currant.
New course | Engaging with the Press: A Practical Look at Effective Public Health Communications
Fall 2022
In this 7-class noncredit seminar, Richard J. Tofel, former president of ProPublica and distinguished visiting fellow at Harvard Chan, will give students a deeper understanding of the relationship between public health and the press, a subject of particular importance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read our Q&A with Tofel about why this class matters. Follow us on Twitter to catch up on key lessons learned each week.
Student workshop | How to use narrative to highlight disparities and catalyze change
Tuesday, November 8 / 1-1:50 pm ET
Featuring Linda Villarosa, contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine and author of “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation.”
Student workshop | Countering health misinformation: What really works
Thursday, October 27 / 1-1:50 pm ET
Featuring Briony Swire-Thompson, head of the Psychology of Misinformation Lab at Northeastern University.
Student workshop | A COVID-era case study in modern crisis communication
Friday, September 30 / 1-1:50 pm ET
Featuring Gabriella Stern, director of communications at the World Health Organization.
Social | Fall open house for health and science communicators
Monday, September 26 / 5-6:30 pm
Today’s public health leaders must engage with an increasingly fragmented and skeptical world. Join us to learn more about how the Center for Health Communication and the Health Communication Concentration can help you become a more powerful health and science communicator.
Seminar | The Media and the Message: Understanding the Media Landscape and Its Impact on Public Health
Spring 2022
In this three-part, noncredit seminar, veteran health journalist Joanne Kenen gave students a clear view of changes in the American media landscape and how they affect public health.
Read one student’s reflections on what they learned in this course.
