Free course on water crisis offered by UM – Flint

By Anne Trelfa

A free course focused on the Flint water crisis begins Thursday Jan. 21 at 4:30 in the UM – Flint Northbank Center. The UM-Flint Department of Public Health and Health Sciences is offering 8 sessions initially throughout the winter semester. Planners say each session will involve students and community in panel discussions with leaders and experts, with all participants learning from each other.

“We want to offer this opportunity for dialogue and bi-directional learning so that the ‘experts’ can learn from the perspectives of the community impacted by this crisis,” said Dr. Suzanne Selig, director of the Department of Public Health and Health Sciences at UM-Flint.

For more information and to register now for the following sessions, visit https://www/umflint.edu/publichealth.
· What happened: How did we get here- Thursday Jan. 21 4:30-6:30
· Public health and water safety Thursday Jan. 28 4:30-6:30

Additional topics to be covered in the course include:
*What happened: How did we get here?
*Public health and water safety
*Defining “healthy” water: A look at the regulations
*Water as a political issue
*The health implications of the Flint water crisis
*Why money matters: How economics impact water

Marla Sievers, a University of Michigan graduate student, contributed to the planning of the course. Sievers, an administrator at a community health center in New Mexico, earned her graduate certificate in the foundations of public health from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. To complete her Master in Public Health, she came to UM-Flint in May of this year.

Since coming to the area, she has been heavily researching the Flint water crisis. She graduates this month but will continue to collaborate on putting the course sessions together.

Staff writer Anne Trelfa can be reached at anlange@umflint.edu.

Author: East Village Magazine

A Non-profit, Community News Magazine Since 1976

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