SYMPOSIUM
Speaking Truth to Power about Weight: From Defense to Defiance

Friday, April 24, 2026
8:30 AM

Join us for a dynamic, interdisciplinary symposium exploring the
impact and intersections of weight stigma and weight-based
discrimination across healthcare, policy, education and beyond. Leave
equipped with research-grounded strategies, collaborative connections,
and actionable tools to advance weight justice and drive meaningful
systems change.

Sessions throughout the day with expert speakers from Cornell, across the country and the globe.
Online or in-person @ The Statler Hotel

Join for some or all of the day
Free to participate. Lunch provided for those who register.
Day concludes with a showing of the movie: A Matter of Size

Not able to join us in person? Register HERE to join virtually

Symposium Agenda:

​8:00  – 8:30 AM | Symposium Registration

8:30–8:45 AM | Campus Welcome
Sander Kersten, PhD, Director, Division of Nutritional Sciences; Schleifer Family Professor, Cornell University

8:45–9:00 AM | Purpose for the Day
Barbara Altman Bruno, PhD, DCSW
Cornell University (BA ’68, ’69)

9:00–10:00 AM | Clinical and Health Care Perspectives Panel Featuring:
Mónica Peralta, MD, Association for Weight and Size Inclusive Medicine (AWSIM)
Julie Phillips, MD, MPH, Professor & Chair, Department of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University; AWSIM

10:10 -11:10 AM Psychological Healing from Weight Stigma
Janet Tomiyama, PhD, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles; Director, Dieting, Stress, and Health (DiSH) Lab
Penny Krainin, PhD, Assistant Director of Clinical Services, Collaborative Health & Eating Program (CHEP),Counseling & Psychological Services, Cornell University
Antonia Pellegrini, Body Positive Cornell 

11:20 AM–12:15 PM | Nutrition, Fitness, and Health
Glenn Gaesser, PhD (Virtual), Professor of Exercise Physiology, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University
Vincci Tsui, RD (Virtual) Registered Dietitian; Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor

12:15–1:10 PM | Lunch Break (Featured short presentation about fashion 

1:20–2:20 PM | Policy, Civil Rights, and Advocacy
Mary Evans Young (Virtual), Founder, International No Diet Day (UK)
Tigress Osborn, BA, MFA, National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)

2:20–3:20 PM | Truth vs. Bias in Medical Research
Ragen Chastain, Weight and Healthcare

3:30–4:05 PM | The Moralization of Body Weight in Health and Society 
Kate Manne, PhD, Sage School of Philosophy and Gender & Sexuality Studies Program, Cornell University

4:05–4:25 PM | Intersecting Biases and the Politics of Body Size
Angela Odoms-Young, PhD, Nancy Schlegel Meinig Associate Professor of Maternal and Child Nutrition, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University

4:35–5:35 PM | Humor and Resistance Panel
Speakers TBA

5:35–5:45 PM | Closing Remarks and Student Reflection

7:00 – 9:00 PM | Film Screening: A Matter of Size
Informal Dialogue with opening remarks from Barbara Altman Bruno

Hosted by Barbara Altman Bruno ’68, PhD, DCSW and Cornell Human Ecology Alumni Affairs & Development