A WKU aluma and folklorist will be holding a discussion Thursday on how disinformation and misinformation affect medical decision-making in regards to COVID-19.

Dr. Andrea Kitta, an award-winning author, will discuss how to effectively talk to people about COVID-19 and how to make informed medical decisions. 

Kitta’s first book, “Vaccinations and Public Concern in History: Legend, Rumor, and Risk Perception,” won the Brian McConnell book award in 2012. Her most recent book, “The Kiss of Death: Contagion, Contamination, and Folklore,” won the Brian McConnell book award and the Chicago Folklore Prize in 2020.

She is interested in internet folklore, medicine, belief and the supernatural. She also specializes in narrative and urban legend.

Kitta graduated from WKU’s Masters in Folk Studies program. She received her PhD at Memorial University of Newfoundland. 

Kitta’s talk will be held on Thursday, Sept. 30 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Zoom.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration can be found at https://wku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcsduutrDwiE9I4U08DSQ3avCpZgrpUup0L.

The talk will be hosted by the Kentucky Folklife Program and Kentucky Museum. This program is sponsored by the Association of Science and Technology Centers’ Communities for Immunity program.

Registration is limited to 300 people and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information, visit the WKU Events website.

Projects Editor Jacob Latimer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jacoblatimer_.