Topic: The History and Historiography of U.S. Medicine

Lecturer: Prof. Margaret Humphreys

Host: Prof. Li Hua-cheng

Time: 9:00 - 11:30 

Date: 2017-7-25（Tuesday）

Venue: Room 3-424, Building Wenhui, Chang’an Campus

Hosted by: Research Center for Social History of Medicine

Abstract:

Often the first question for historians concerns what topics are the central focus of the history. Do we write about the great discoveries, and focus on who was the first to, for example, use anesthesia or identify the cholera bacillus? Is our goal to glorify our profession? Examples of this include neurologists who focus on the history of neurology. Or sectarian practitioners who write about the beginnings of their system of medicine. Is our goal to glorify our nation? The discovery that malaria is spread by mosquitoes is claimed both by the British (Ronald Ross) and by the Italians (Giovanni Grassi). Or are we interested in understanding the historical determinants of health, and the etiology of health disparities in historic time? History is always constrained by the availability of sources. Great men may leave publications and letters; if our interest is the health of the poorest, they may be illiterate and non-textual, requiring a different approach. The digital revolution has brought us easy access to a multitude of new sources. The medical historian’s focus and methods accordingly change with progress in technology.

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