“The persevering surgeon” an 18^th century cartoon by Thomas Rowlandson shows a surgeon leering over a dead female body, a sneering smile on his face and her breasts in his fascinated grope. Although this makes uncomfortable viewing, a fascination with the details of human anatomy is something visitors can relate to, as they walk through the Museum of London’s exhibition ‘Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men’.  Intricate sketches, eerie wax models, butterfly wing-thin cross sections of bone and tissue decorate the space, as the creators of the exhibition play up to their visitors’ morbid curiosity. more…

Frankenweenie was originally created as a short film and you can sort of tell.  The storyline is simplistic, doesn’t really go anywhere, and offers little in the way of plot.  And yet the sophisticated content of the movie means that I’m inclined to judge this ostensibly child-orientated story against an adult standard.  Indeed, from an adult perspective, the weakness of the storyline honestly doesn’t matter.

Far more important, and appealing, are the layers of charming attention to quirky detail that fans have come to expect of Tim Burton.  Take, for example, the intricate systems of pulleys and levers, that are integral to the practical telling of this story. Cutesy in their ambition, brilliant in their resourcefulness and intricacy. Not to mention the whole host of unsettlingly recognisable, classic characters, that are guaranteed to leave audiences hungry for more.  more…

I will remember the face of the man who I had not expected to see.

In suburban Johannesburg, the soil begins to turn into a rich gold color. The soil summons an enticing depth to the earth, where as Jean-Luc Nancy (1994) writes, we find existence as the cradle between our birth and our death. From our footsteps, the ancestors rise and embody the agency of new life. There is life upon death, upon death.

And this life has a heart that is vivid; a pulsation that is energising; a sound that is lulling. The suffering grows within each person as if the heart is enlarging so not to feign life; a suffering that bleeds the brightest red to signify the liveliest dance.

more…

For those regularly following this blog, you’ll know I’m keen on exploring how maritime and medical history can be brought together, particularly with respect to developing critical global histories of both. If you share my enthusiasm, you might be interested in the following conference, due to take place 10-11th May 2013 at Wolfson College, University of Oxford.

Naval Expertise and the Making of the Modern World

One of the four major themes of the conference is ‘science and medicine’ including ‘the management of disease at sea’, so it would be great to see interested parties either presenting or attending. The call for papers is open now, with a deadline of 31st October 2012, and registration will open later in the year.

Dr Maria Vaccarella will present her ongoing research at an open seminar at the Centre for Health and Humanities, King’s College London.

Dr Vaccarella’s subject refers to the cultural history of epilepsy in the West, and narrative medicine applied to epilepsy care; creating a valuable insight into the interaction between health and the humanities.

The seminar will be held at 18.00-19.30 on June 20th at King’s College London (Strand Campus). All are welcome.

A few months ago I was raving about the prospects of a maritime history of medicine, the ship’s medicine chest being the focus of some of my latest studies.

Since writing that piece, the Wellcome Trust and National Archives have completed the digitisation of the Royal Navy Medical Officers’ journals. The project, entitled Surgeons at Sea, allows budding maritime historians to view and search over 1000 records online, encompassing the years 1793 to 1880.

There’s a really diverse range of themes to be uncovered. For those interested in everything from shark bites to venereal disease (and, of course, that all-pervasive medical tonic: rum), I’d certainly recommend taking the time to browse.

Second Annual Western Michigan University Medical Humanities Conference

September 27-28, 2012; Kalamazoo, Michigan

Proposals should be submitted electronically by July 15—in either .doc/.docx or .pdf format—to
medical-humanities@wmich.edu

more…

‘The Sublime Object of Psychiatry’ studies representations of schizophrenia, and acknowledges a wide range of disciplines, including biological and phenomenological psychiatry, psychoanalysis, critical psychology, anti-psychiatry, and postmodern philosophy. Such an analysis permits a privileged view of the way in which schizophrenia has been framed within different discourses.

more…

Me, me, me. What could be more antisocial than a preoccupation with one’s own life at the expense of others? The Greek myth of Narcissus perhaps captured it best. The proud young hunter, uninterested in the affections of others, found satisfaction in his own reflection. Consumed by self-love and unable to leave his mirror image, Narcissus’s obsession led to his eventual death. Carvaggio’s painting of this, the original narcissist, is in fact featured on the latest edition of Medical Humanities in which Alessia Pannese’s article alludes to a possible neurological cause.

But is narcissism really such an antisocial tendency? I was recently lucky enough to attend a talk by Julie Walsh at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, which radically challenged my assumptions. more…

The third international interdisciplinary conference* on comics and
medicine will continue to explore the intersection of sequential
visual arts and medicine. This year we will highlight perspectives
that are often under-represented in graphic narratives, such as
depictions of the Outsider or Other in the context of issues such as
barriers to healthcare, the stigma of mental illness and disability,
and the silent burden of caretaking.

more…