GROSSMONT COLLEGE (Press Release) — A campuswide learning experience called “A Multi-Disciplinary Celebration of ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is involving students in many different departments, ranging from history to nursing, science to English, and culinary arts to the dramatic arts. The program is based on Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The bestselling book chronicles how the cells of Lacks, a poor African-American woman from the South who died of cancer in 1951, were used to grow human cells in the lab.

The cells taken from Lacks were used without consent from her and her family, raising numerous ethical questions about medical
research. Used in over 60,000 published studies, these cells have played a part in research on cancer, AIDS, and gene mapping, and led to many discoveries including the polio vaccine.

Today, as a lucrative industry has arisen around the culturing and sale of “HeLa” cells, the Lacks family still lives in poverty, still cannot afford adequate health care, and had only limited knowledge of “HeLa” cells and their contributions to science and humanity, according to Tate Hurvitz, a Grossmont College English professor overseeing the project.

Hurvitz said, “The book offers insight into questions of science, research ethics, social justice, race, class and gender in the 1950s and the present, and even the essence of human nature. In short, it is fertile ground for intellectual and cultural investigation across different areas of study, making our students’ educational experience more meaningful and engaging.”

Hurvitz said 17 different departments at Grossmont are planning a variety of classroom assignments this fall ranging from essays and films for English students to culinary students preparing a Southern-style Henrietta Lacks menu.

A Theatre Arts Department class has scheduled a book reading, and the college’s Speech and Debate team will hold a student debate on ethical issues. Art students are creating original artwork and chemistry students will learn about HeLa cells. Also, a campuswide essay contest is underway.

Assisting Hurvitz in the project are Sue Jensen and Joan Ahrens, both from the Grossmont College English Department. Details about the collaboration appears on the Grossmont College website homepage, www.grossmont.edu.

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Preceding provided by Grossmont College’s public affairs office.