Lunch and Learns
Our lunch and learns offer staff and faculty a learning environment which promotes healthy lifestyle choices by increasing awareness, and supporting lifestyle changes. Lunch and Learns also offer an opportunity to gather, create connections and build relationships, which helps support your social-emotional well-being. We know that healthier lifestyles among faculty and staff will in turn create happier, more productive individuals who benefit themselves, Macalester, and the greater community.
Upcoming Lunch & Learns
5 Ways to Prevent Colon Cancer
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 – Focus: Physical Well-being & Cancer Prevention
Colon cancer rates are rising, particularly among younger adults, making prevention and early detection more important than ever. Join WHAM for our first lunch and learn of the semester with Registered Dietitian Ashley Oswald as she explores current colon cancer trends, recommended screening options, and five evidence-based nutrition + lifestyle strategies that may help reduce risk. Attendees will leave with practical, actionable steps to support long-term colon and digestive health.
Register to join us for lunch at 11:45 in the Leonard Center’s Hall of Fame room, catered by Bon Appetit. The presentation will be from 12:00 to 12:50 p.m.
Bio: Ashley Oswald is a holistic and functional medicine dietitian. She trained at a Harvard teaching hospital, serves on the teaching faculty at the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy, and is the founder and CEO of Oswald Digestive Clinic. She brings 15 years of experience across diverse areas of healthcare.
As a teenager, Ashley was put on and off of antibiotics for 10 years for acne, which led to gut issues. Due to this experience, she became a leading expert in gut health, and thus decided to specialize and open Oswald Digestive Clinic in 2016.
Ashley and her team at Oswald Digestive Clinic have on average 7 years of formal schooling in nutrition science, and have helped thousands of client improve + eliminate bothersome gut issues, from simple problems, to medical mysteries that have stumped their doctors.
They take a science-based, root cause/holistic/functional nutrition approach, and can help with IBS, Crohn’s, UC, SIBO, food sensitivities, autoimmune issues, GERD, histamine intolerance, brain fog, chronic fatigue, skin conditions like acne + eczema, anxiety or mood concerns related to gut-brain axis, & more.
Ashley holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and completed her post-graduate training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She also has an advanced training credential in functional medicine.
Outside of her work in the US medical system, Ashley enjoys exploring ancient healing modalities from around the world, and has begun to study filmmaking as a way to share about these modalities in an engaging format.
Past Lunch & Learns
Inviting Insight: Cultivating Wisdom and Well-being in Troubling Times
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 – Focus: Mental and Spiritual Well-being
Drawing from the work of social, psychological and educational theorists, philosophers, practitioners and activists; and spanning both eastern and western spiritual traditions; insight is defined as the capacity to suspend habits of thought and emotion, thereby enhancing receptivity and heightening awareness, that leads to deeper understanding, personal well-being and enriched relationships. It is, in effect, a ‘way of knowing’ that can be developed by all people. In times of crisis, insight serves as a critical personal and societal resource. During this session, we will explore practical strategies shown to assist individuals in cultivating insight to enrich their own lives and the lives of others.
Ruthanne Kurth-Schai has recently completed nearly 40 years of teaching, scholarship and service at Macalester College, including 30 years as chair of the Educational Studies Department. Throughout her time at Macalester, her work on campus, in the community, across the U.S and abroad, has been enriched by intensive study and teaching of tai chi and qigong through the Tilopa Tai Chi/Qigong Center in Minneapolis, in addition to study and practice of Buddhist approaches to insight meditation both locally and in Thailand.
Register to join us for lunch catered by Bon Appetit at 11:45, Wednesday, April 22 in the Leonard Center’s Hall of Fame room. The presentation will be from 12:00 to 12:50 p.m.
Mind Body Spirit Heart Health
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 – Focus Area: Heart Health & Stress Management
Please join us for a hybrid lunch and learn. Dr. Courney Jordan Baechler with Park Nicollet Heart and Vascular Center will join us via Zoom to help us:
- Understand stress and the impact on cardiovascular health
- Practical approaches to reducing the impact of stress on our cardiovascular health
- Learn about a new heart age calculator developed by researchers, which translates cardiovascular disease risk
Alcohol Use Screening and Interventions
Wednesday, November 19, 2025 – Focus Area: Heart Health & Cancer Prevention
Have you wondered what life might be like with less alcohol? Want to try another approach to lowering your blood pressure or reducing your risk for cancer? You’re in good company.
On Wednesday, November 19 WHAM will host Dr. Paul Anderson, MD, MPH, Regional Medical Director for HealthPartners and a Lifestyle Medicine practitioner for a virtual Lunch & Learn exploring effective alcohol use screening and interventions. In this informative session, you’ll learn the crucial role of moderating alcohol use in preventing common chronic diseases and improving overall longevity. Dr. Anderson will cover evidence-based approaches that promote wellbeing and reduce health risks.
This session will also serve as a kick-off for our next Mindful Drinking Group Coaching series led by our health and well-being coach, Kelly Fang. To learn more and register, visit the Mindful Drinking Group Coaching Form.