Miracle Cures: Saints, Pilgrimage and the Healing Powers of Belief

Robert A. Scott, Associate Director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences; Author, The Gothic Enterprise and Miracle Cures

From Chaucer’s time to today’s pilgrimage to Lourdes, people have traveled great distances to pray to saints for healing. Using insights from present-day research on the effects of belief, hope, emotion and context on illness, Scott investigates how appeals to saints, sacred journeying and the emotionally charged atmosphere of saints’ shrines might have immediate and long-lasting benefits for a person’s health.

MLF: Humanities
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program
Cost: MEMBERS FREE, $20 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: George Hammond