In examining her own work and the work of others, Gish Jen has developed the notion that people from the US and Western Europe tend to view the self as an independent entity, whereas people from the rest of the world perceive the self as embedded in community. Jen uses that notion to examine her family history, her fiction, and the literature of Europe and the Far East.

Health care is medical care, right? That might sound logical, but a number of people have challenged that notion head-on. Some have drawn connections between health and political power; others decided that health clinics should do much more than diagnose and treat illness. Jenna Loyd weighs the theoretical insights of Michel Foucault and others; she also points to a time when community health took a radical turn.

The term "community" is everywhere. It is used by those in power -- witness the "business community" -- and those with no power. But what does it actually mean? Should people on the left continue to claim it? Or is it too flawed a concept, with real political dangers attached? Anthropologist Gerald Creed talks about the history of "the community," the explosion of the term since the early 1990s, and why it remains so ubiquitous. (Encore presentation.)

The term "community" is everywhere. It is used by those in power -- witness the "business community" -- and those with no power. But what does it actually mean? Should people on the left continue to claim it? Or is it too flawed a concept, with real political dangers attached? Anthropologist Gerald Creed talks about the history of "the community", the explosion of the term since the early 1990s, and why it is so ubiquitous.