Dr Jonathan Topham (University of Leeds)
Radical artisans, divine design, and evolution in Britain, 1819-36

Adrian Desmond’s studies of the British debates on transmutation in the 1820s and 1830s, and in particular of the role in those debates of radical artisans, permanently altered scholarly understanding of “the politics of evolution”.  However, a closer look at radical publications from that period suggest that Desmond’s dichotomous picture, of radical artisanal supporters of transmutation pitted against conservative gentlemanly supporters of design theology, needs heavy qualification.  This paper explores the topic afresh, drawing on evidence from the popular press of the era, and especially the Poor Man’s Guardian (1831‒35), which regularly carried editorials, verses and other writings that blended reformist politics with design theology.  Recovery of this tradition of radical design theology can help us better understand both the religious condition of the British working class of the 1830s and the complex nature of religious alignments in the emerging debates over species.

When? Monday 14th January 2019, 16:00. Coffee will be available from 15:30.

Where? Lecture Theatre, History Faculty, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL

All welcome to attend! This term’s HSMT Seminar series is convened by Professor Rob Iliffe and Dr Sloan Mahone, Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology. More information about HSMT events can be found here.

Professor Katherine Paugh (University of Oxford):
Venereal disease in the British Empire

‘The late eighteenth century was a pivotal era in the history of ideas about venereal disease in the British Empire. The slow death of the Atlantic slave trade put new pressures on British doctors to cultivate sexual health among enslaved women in the British Caribbean in order to ensure their fertility, and at the same time the extensive engagement of the British military in the Caribbean raised new concerns about the sexual health of British soldiers and sailors. This paper will discuss how these pressures unfolded and how they shaped the circulation of medical knowledge about venereal disease. Particular attention will be given to the relationship between African and British healers, and especially the engagement  of the Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces, John Hunter, with ideas about venereal disease that were generated in the Caribbean through the interaction of white and black healers.’

When? Monday 19th November 2018, 16:00. Coffee will be available from 15:30.

Where? Lecture Theatre, History Faculty, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL

All welcome to attend! This term’s HSMT Seminar series is convened by Professor Rob Iliffe and Dr Sloan Mahone, Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology. More information about HSMT events can be found here.

Dr John Lidwell-Durnin (University of Oxford)
The intemperate brain: debates over habit and heredity in the 19th century

‘What hereditary effect, if any, does alcohol have upon the nervous system? As the temperance movement gained popularity and political influence in the 19th century, the potential influence of intemperate habits on human heredity became a pressing topic for concern in both the medical and the religious press. The shared anxieties of medical and religious institutions led to an abundance of pamphlets and treatises that attempted to unite the religious and phrenological views on the dangers of intoxication. In this paper, I argue that by examining the significance of phrenological thought to the temperance movement, we can better understand how ideas of the transmission of illnesses and vices from parent to offspring were diffused in the 19th century to the reading public. Drawing on John van Wyhe’s characterisation of phrenology as a popular medium through which scientific naturalism gained prominence, I show that the temperance movement provided a site of discourse that communicated not only the dangers of alcohol, but also theories of reproduction, heredity, and the transmission of acquired traits. As such, the temperance movement prioritised some understandings of the laws of heredity while overlooking or downplaying others.’

When? Monday 12th November 2018, 16:00. Coffee will be available from 15:30.

Where? Lecture Theatre, History Faculty, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL

All welcome to attend! This term’s HSMT Seminar series is convened by Professor Rob Iliffe and Dr Sloan Mahone, Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology. More information about HSMT events can be found here.

Dr Marius Turda (Oxford Brookes University)
Catholicism, reproduction, and eugenics in interwar Hungary

‘This paper looks at how eugenics shaped Catholic discussions on sexuality, reproduction and the protection of the family in Hungary during the interwar period. The main issue at the time was how to harmonise the interests of the state and the nation with the interests of individuals and families. The eugenic focus on reproduction intersected long-seated religious and cultural patterns of family life, which Hungarian Catholics considered unalterable. However, eugenics was not completely rejected by the Catholic Church. Whilst negative eugenic practices such as sterilisation and euthanasia were rejected, positive eugenics was considered an important medium through which the Catholic Church could voice its views on sexual morality, population policies and the protection of Hungarian racial qualities.’

When? Monday 5th November 2018, 16:00. Coffee will be available from 15:30.

Where? Lecture Theatre, History Faculty, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL

All welcome to attend! This term’s HSMT Seminar series is convened by Professor Rob Iliffe and Dr Sloan Mahone, Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology. More information about HSMT events can be found here.

Dr Mary Brazelton (University of Cambridge)
Smallpox eradication in China and emerging narratives of global health, 1949-79

‘In the Cold War, East Asian nations became involved in a variety of transnational health initiatives. Although Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan all provided support to the World Health Organization and its American-oriented interventions and strategies, the non-aligned People’s Republic of China followed a different path. The public success of mass immunization in China, as determined by the eradication of smallpox and the “control” of other infectious diseases like measles and cholera in the 1950s and 1960s, contributed crucial evidence for the success of Chinese public health more broadly. By the 1970s, immunization was comfortably entrenched in the rural health system that the People’s Republic of China promoted on a global scale via the export of medical materials, personnel, and funds. State agents also cultivated the goodwill of Western observers who traveled to China after 1971. These international activities contributed to the prominence of the PRC in discussions of global health policy, culminating in the World Health Organization’s Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 and its major policy shift towards promoting primary health care: interventions meant to provide basic clinical services for many people, including those in rural areas. Although the PRC became famous for its “barefoot doctors” as the human faces of the rural health system it promoted, its eradication and control of infectious diseases—a consequence of mass immunization—provided key evidence that helped consolidate its position as a leading national model of public health.’

When? Monday 29th October 2018, 16:00. Coffee will be available from 15:30.

Where? Lecture Theatre, History Faculty, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL

All welcome to attend! This term’s HSMT Seminar series is convened by Professor Rob Iliffe and Dr Sloan Mahone, Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology. More information about HSMT events can be found here.

Dr Marissa Mika (UCL): Archival ethics from below: the case of an African Cancer Hospital

‘At the Uganda Cancer Institute, lines often blur between past and present, sickness and health, life and death. Founded in 1967 as a small chemotherapy clinical trials facility in Kampala, today the Institute’s 60 beds serve a population catchment of over 40 million living in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The Institute houses the only continuous collection of patient records documenting cancer treatment and care on the African continent. This talk considers the temporal, methodological, and ethical challenges of preserving patient records at the Uganda Cancer Institute.’

When? Monday 22nd October 2018, 16:00. Coffee will be available from 15:30.

Where? Lecture Theatre, History Faculty, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL

All welcome to attend! This term’s HSMT Seminar series is convened by Professor Rob Iliffe and Dr Sloan Mahone, Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology. More information about HSMT events can be found here.