“Alien” book event with Dean Galea

Join Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, Margaret C. Ryan Dean of Public Health, Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health, WashU Bursky School of Public Health, at the Harvard Book Store for a discussion of his new memoir, “Alien: Reflections on Being an Immigrant.” He will be joined in conversation by Sarah Rahal, a health and science reporter at “The Boston Globe” whose reporting focuses on women’s health, maternal health, mental health, trends, and the impact of federal research funding cuts on scientific institutions.

“Alien” is a personal treatise from distinguished social scientist Sandro Galea on the indelible effects of being an immigrant—and what it means for the greater good.

“I am one of the lucky ones,” writes Sandro Galea. Galea left home in Malta at fourteen with his parents and sister as the island was rocked by political turmoil. The family made their way to Canada and Galea, in turn, eventually made his way to the United States.

Galea’s intimate and personal story frames the experience of being an immigrant in terms of its indelible lessons on adaptation, identity, belonging, and shared generosity. His is a reflection on empathy, on precarity, and on the effect of immigrating, in which one becomes keenly aware of how quickly life—and the world—can change.

Blending philosophical inquiry and personal story, “Alien” bridges the gap between storytelling and scholarship and, in doing so, gifts us an essential aperture on the world not everyone experiences—and the value of having those who do.