Levan Center for the Humanities
About the Levan Center and Dr. Norman Levan
The mission of the Norman Levan Center for the Humanities is to provide programs that focus on and foster a greater appreciation of the humanities, explore the relevance of the humanities to the practice of medicine, examine and support ethical behavior in business and the professions, recognize and encourage scholarship and intellectual exchange among faculty and students, and involve the Bakersfield community in examining the importance of the humanities in the lives of people.
Dr. Norman Levan was professor emeritus and former chief of dermatology at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree in 1939. After serving in the Army Medical Corps during World War II, he began a long and distinguished career in medicine. He established the Hansen's Disease Clinic for leprosy at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center in 1962 at the request of state and federal health officials.
The Levan Center hosts a series of events throughout the academic year that promote the humanities on campus and in the community at large. Some of these events are formal lectures. Some of them are panel discussions, and some of them are informal round table discussions of issues that inform our experiences as human beings. These events are always free and open to the public. In addition, the Levan Center provides scholarships and grants to Bakersfield College students and faculty who conduct research in the Humanities. For details, contact the Levan Center Director, Reggie Williams, at rwilliam@bakersfieldcollege.edu.
