Richard Rubin, PhD
Details:
I Am Life: Humanity in Advanced Dementia
Featuring Richard Rubin and Jason Karlawish
2 to 3:30 p.m. March 29, 2016
Room 11-146AB
Smilow Center for Translational Research, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104
Space is limited. Please reserve your seat by calling Terrence Casey at 215-898-9979 or emailing terrence.casey@uphs.upenn.edu.
Members of the public are welcome to join the Penn Memory Center March 29 for “I Am Life: Humanity in Advanced Dementia.” Richard M. Rubin tells the story of his late wife, Rebecca Barnard, as her dementia advanced to a profound stage.
Rubin uses photography, narrative, audio, and video to bring home the depth of her loss and the persistence of her personality, her emotional life, her engagement with others, and her importance in their lives. The story raises complex philosophical and moral issues and directly addresses the conduct and thinking of care professionals. Jason Karlawish, Penn Memory Center co-director, will offer commentary and facilitate a discussion with the audience.
Rubin became active in a support group for younger spouses of people with dementia in 2007 after his wife was diagnosed at the age of 53. He has a BA in humanities from the University of Chicago and a PhD in philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis, where he helped organize a 2013 symposium on humanity in advanced dementia and has taught a course titled “Aging and Dying – Philosophic Perspectives.”