The audiovisual presentations in this collection explore contemporary subjects with depth and verve. Mixing media from a variety of sources, including news, radio, historical sources, interviews, and even surveys, these videos create an ample ground from which to assess pressing challenges in healthcare. The presentations often turn their attention to the medium itself, pondering the effects of representation on structures of access, institutional trajectories, and for patients on the ground. Imaginative and insightful, these videos invite a broader account of today’s healthcare landscape.

 

CDC’s Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

For the past 74 years, this agency has been seen as the standard of public health guidance, and, today, it is America’s “premiere health promotion, prevention, and preparedness agency.” In order to understand the role of this organization in what can now be seen as a failure to control the spread of the virus that has led to the death of more than 216,000 people, we analyze the CDC through the lens of a historical, biological, political, and social perspective.

 

The Paradoxical Effect of Birth Control Advertisements

We used an audiovisual format, interviewing women who are currently on or have been on contraceptives for varying reasons. We asked these women to describe and reflect on their experiences with birth control, as well as any misconceptions they or others had prior to or while taking contraceptives.  These recordings were paired, in a video, with visual artwork done by our team members to artistically reflect the disconnect between representation and lived experience.

 

Trampled Down: Present Struggles with Structural Violence Within the Mental Health System Amongst Youth in New York City

We explore the youth-mental health system in New York City following the recent implementation of mandatory mental health education as a part of K-12th school curriculums.New York City’s historical gentrification has created wealth and racial divides across this landscape which already negatively impact youth mental health from a young age. The implications of these forms of structural violence on youth mental health education and access to mental health services will be further discussed in our video.