Invited Keynote at Providence College - "R.E. Havard: What C.S. Lewis's Physician Teaches Us about the Medical Imagination"

I was honored to contribute a lecture to Providence College’s Humanities Forum and C.S. Lewis Fellowship during homecoming weekend. The talk was also co-sponsored by the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Previous speakers have included Michael Ward (author of Planet Narnia) and Carol Zaleski (co-author of The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings).

Often called the “medical Inkling,” R.E. Havard was a Catholic writer, physician, and one of C.S. Lewis’s closest friends. This lecture explores the life and writings of this often-overlooked literary doctor, considering not only his profound influence on C.S. Lewis, but also revealing the riches of his medical imagination. In making room for the soul, Havard’s holistic vision of health both articulates a Christian response to mental illness, as well as recognizes the healing power of literature and the arts.