Wake Up to the HAPPY Initiative
Wake Up to Yale School of Public Health’s HAPPY Initiative
The Humanities, Arts, and Public Health Practice at Yale (HAPPY) Initiative: The power of the arts, humanities, and storytelling to promote the health of communities.
HAPPY is an initiative of Yale School of Public Health that seeks to leverage the power of storytelling using the arts and humanities to inspire the public to improve community health. Stories – whether they are films, plays, television, photography, poetry, dance, novels, music, painting, or design – can inspire and galvanize us to advocate for change. HAPPY aspires to garner the power of the arts and humanities to beckon the public to embrace the science and research that can improve public health.
Gather for an evening of music, improvisation, and conversation about a public health topic that we all experience – the search for a good night’s sleep.
Join our faculty and students as they illustrate how the HAPPY Initiative draws on health information, art, drama, music, and more to create powerful messages that promote healthy behaviors, build social cohesion in communities, and raise awareness about public health issues that challenge community health. Using the theme of Sleep for this special event, we will illustrate how performance and art can educate, inspire, and improve sleep hygiene.
Featuring:
Neal Baer, MD, Lecturer, Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Baer is an award-winning showrunner, television writer/producer, physician, author, and public health advocate and expert. Dr. Baer’s work in television includes Law & Order: SVU; Designated Survivor, and ER. Outside of his work in television, Dr. Baer is dedicated to using new media to promote health and using the power of storytelling to improve health outcomes. He serves on the boards of many related institutions/initiatives, including the CDC and Gates Foundation-supported Hollywood, Health and Society.
Michael Cerveris, '83 BA, Actor, Singer, and Guitarist. Michael is known for his Tony Award-winning leading roles in Fun Home and Sweeny Todd, among many other stage, film, and television performances.
Henry Klar Yaggi, '03 MPH, MD, Professor of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Yaggi is a leading expert in the clinical epidemiology of sleep-disordered breathing, focusing on sleep apnea as a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes, prognostic factors for adverse cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes in patients with sleep-disordered breathing, and the impact of diagnosing and treating sleep apnea (using home-based strategies) on cardiovascular risk.
Judith Lichtman, '88 MPH, '96 PhD, Susan Dwight Bliss Professor and Chair of Chronic Disease Epidemiology; Director, Humanities, Arts, and Public Health Practice at Yale (HAPPY) Initiative, Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Lichtman is a leading expert in the science to improve the quality of care and outcomes for heart disease and stroke, particularly for women and underrepresented populations. Her work focuses on using large administrative databases and observational studies to explore social, clinical, and environmental determinants of health outcomes, eliminate disparities, and promote equity.
Michael Shulman, '04 BA, Actor, Producer. Mr. Shulman is a Tony Award winning American film, stage, television actor and producer. He is the founder of Sand & Snow Entertainment, dedicated to artist-driven work that stirs conversation, especially in younger generations.
The Exit Players - The Exit Players were founded in the spring of 1984, introducing improv to Yale's campus. Since then, they have performed hundreds of shows at schools, theaters, and festivals across the country.
PLEASE NOTE - You must provide proof of vaccination to attend this event.
ABOUT HAPPY
Formed in early 2019, the Humanities, Arts and Public Health Practice at Yale (HAPPY) is an interdisciplinary initiative focused on health and the humanities, leveraging the rich resources across Yale’s campus. Based at Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) and in collaboration with the Schwarzman Center and Yale’s top ranked schools of Medicine, Nursing, Music, Drama, Architecture and Management, HAPPY brings together the rich perspectives and contributions of humanities, arts and public health practice to improve health outcomes in diverse communities.
HAPPY Objectives:
• To bridge the complementary perspectives and contributions of humanities, arts, and public health practice to improve the health of communities.
• To develop a plan and partnerships for an interdisciplinary program that incorporates Yale’s rich and diverse resources across the University.
• To offer students from across the University a thought-provoking and unique lens into public health challenges and their solutions through innovative courses and events.