“Thinking from the ‘Center’: Building Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Research Projects on Religion, Spirituality, and Medicine” 
Philip Goff, PhD, American Studies, Indiana University, Indianapolis and the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture; Alexia Torke, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Division Chief of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Director of the Evans Center for Religious and Spiritual Values in Healthcare, and a Research Scientist, Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Regenstrief Institute.  Melissa Borja, PhD, Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies, University of Michigan (Religious Refugees and Health Care Access); David Craig, PhD, Religious Studies, Indiana University, Indianapolis (Religious Activists and Health Care Affordability); Joseph Tucker Edmonds, PhD, Religious Studies, Indiana University, Indianapolis and the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture (Religion, Mental Care and Black Cultural Trauma); Virgil Gregory, PhD, Associate Professor of Social Work at IUPUI; Robin Nichols, Board Officer and Program Director for the Common Grounds Institute of Crossroads AME Church; and Andrew Whitehead, PhD, Sociology, Indiana University, Indianapolis and the Association of Religion Data Archives (Congregations and Disability Awareness) 

This session will explore the critical role of university-based centers in drawing together a broad range of thinkers who can respond to boundary-breaking research questions in creative and unprecedented ways. Specifically, the session will present current examples of interdisciplinary research projects at the intersection of religion and medicine that have benefitted from the incubation, networking, and resources of university-based centers. Join us for a hands-on session to learn from these models and begin to brainstorm and plan for research projects on your campus.