Gustavus’ 58th annual Nobel Conference highlights youth mental health

ST. PETER, Minn. (KEYC) - Gustavus Adolphus College’s Nobel Conference has been putting science and ethics into dialogue since 1965.

“Science doesn’t come in a separate box than ethics. These questions are always involved with each other, no matter the topic,” Nobel Conference Director Lisa Heldke said.

Each fall, it brings leading thinkers and researchers to campus to explore the world’s biggest scientific questions.

“We try to choose topics that somehow have an impact on all of our lives,” Heldke added.

This year’s theme is ‘Mental Health (In)Equity and Young People.’

Several speakers are taking the stage during the two-day event to highlight the impacts of mental health disparities.

“It’s a topic that is very relevant and timely,” stated G. Nic Rider, an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota.

They’re also addressing identity, trauma and social media as well as their effects on youth.

“Discrimination and microaggressions, and many other experiences that people have, really do have an effect on their mental health,” Rider explained.

Organizers hope the Nobel Conference sparks a bigger conversation about mental health, social inequalities, and the pros and cons of a technology-driven world.

“[We hope to} enable people to think about ways that they can, for themselves, take ideas that they are learning home with them,” Heldke mentioned.

The entire event will be streamed online and will be available live and on-demand. For those who would like to attend the Nobel Conference, you can purchase tickets here.

The Nobel Conference continues Thursday.

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