In the tradition of TimeLine’s Sunday Scholars series, join us for a free, hour-long panel discussion on the themes of Falsettos. This is a perfect way to engage with this gay musical odyssey and a unique opportunity to hear directly from experts, academics, and artists whose work is in direct conversation with the art onstage.

Moderated by TimeLine Associate Artistic Director and Falsettos director NICK BOWLING, this panel featured esteemed guest panelists, including:

CAPRICE CARTHANS is a trans advocate and author with more than 30 years of experience and leadership in HIV and Trans issues. She is the founder and Executive Director of Equity Alliance Health Illinois. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC)and Co-Chair for the Chicago Department of Public Health’s (CDPH), Chicago Area HIV Integrated Services Council. Caprice was awarded the 2017 Transgender Day of Remembrance and Trailblazer Awards by Office of the Mayor, City of Chicago; HIV Community Leader from CDPH and the AFC 2018 Innovation Award. Caprice’s contributions to the LGBTQ movement are profiled in “To Survive on this Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults.” Caprice was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2020 by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

ROBERTO SANABRIA is a community organizer from the Humboldt Park neighborhood. He is a co-founder of Vida/SIDA and of El Rescate—two initiatives of The Puerto Rican Cultural Center that address HIV/AIDS and queer youth homelessness respectively. Sanabria has led the diversity, inclusion, and compliance efforts at several institutions, including the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern University, and the American Hospital Association, where he is currently working as the executive director of DEI. Under three governors, Sanabria served as the chairperson for the Illinois Governor’s advisory council for Latino employment (Hispanic Employment Plan Advisory Council) and now serves on the board of the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives (NALHE).

RENSLOW SHERER, M.D. is the Director of the International HIV Training Center and Professor of Medicine in the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University of Chicago. Dr. Sherer has been a primary caregiver for people living with HIV since 1982. He founded the first HIV clinic in Chicago at Cook County Hospital with Ron Sable in 1982, and he co-founded the AIDS Foundation of Chicago in 1985. He has numerous publications on the clinical and social impact of the HIV pandemic. Dr. Sherer is active in research on HIV prevention, care, model care programs, and medical education in the U.S., China, and Africa. He has directed an annual course on Health and Human Rights as a faculty member of the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights since 2013. Dr. Sherer was a member of the U.S. HHS HIV/AIDS Treatment Guideline Panel from 1996-2010, and he has been the Clinical Director for the Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center since 1989.