Overcoming extraordinary odds to become a surgeon, Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord is the first member of the Navajo tribe to be board-certified in surgery.  

Her bestselling memoir, “The Scalpel and the Silver Bear,” traces her journey from a Navajo reservation to the operating room. 

Early next month, Alvord will share her incredible story in our region.  

Sponsored by the East Tennessee State University College of Arts and Sciences, the event is set for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 4, in the Grand Soldiers Ballroom at the Carnegie Hotel, located across from the main campus of ETSU. Alvord will give a lecture, followed by a reception and book signing.  

“Her book has been used for years in our pre-health and medical anthropology courses and resonates with students as she discusses being a first-generation college student who had to overcome social and economic challenges to realize her educational and professional goals,” said Dr. Melissa R. Schrift, a professor of anthropology, director of the culture and health minor at the university and the pre-health academic liaison with the College of Arts and Sciences. “Alvord's visit is an opportunity for undergraduate students to connect what they are reading in the classroom to a larger discussion across campus and within the community, and we anticipate related experiential opportunities related to indigenous health to follow.” 

She added: “This serves as a starting point within the College of Arts and Sciences to host discussions centered on the concept of health writ broadly, encompassing the natural and social sciences with the arts and humanities. The breadth encourages us to understand health as a cultural, social and environmental – in addition to physical – phenomenon.” 

During her time in Johnson City, Alvord will hold breakout sessions with students in anthropology and sociology, as well as students in the Quillen College of Medicine. 

ETSU is situated on the ancestral homeland of the Cherokee, one of the largest politically integrated tribes at the time of European colonization of North America.  

The university is home to a vibrant community, hosting dozens of concerts, exhibitions and performances throughout the year.  

While the March 4 event is free and open to the public, registration is required.

For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346. 

 

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