Introduction to the History of Medicine
HIST3321
NOTE: formerly HIST2050
The wound man, medical teaching illustration, Germany,
1420.
from the Wellcome Library Collection, London.
Dr. Brian
Regal
Assistant Professor for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine
History Department
W-205K
Main
Website:
http://www.kean.edu/~bregal
Email:
bregal@kean.edu
Course Description:
An examination of the interplay among history, society, culture, science, and ways of healing. Special attention on case studies that provide insight into practitioners and lay people's understanding of illness; the changing definition of diseases in different historical contexts and cultures; the role of state policies and medical interventions in the quest for public health; the associations and metaphors some diseases inspired in literature.
The class will cover the origins of anatomical study, dissection, medical botany, the origin of the hospital, medical astrology, medicine and human rights and others.
Course Objectives:
Students will gain a familiarity with the history of medicine, disease and health. Students will learn to apply the techniques of historical analysis to the medical field. Students will show their proficiency through a series of exams, discussions, and written projects.
• Syllabus
Primary Text:
Roy Porter. Blood and Guts: a Short History of Medicine (WW Norton, 2004).
Required additional readings:
• Herbs, Herbals and Herbalists
• Edward Jenner and Vaccinations
• Medicine and Human Rights
James Poro and his 'brother' Michael, 1722
Trepanning, 1527
Medieval blood letting
Resources: accessing these will make your life in this class much easier!
Cultures of Health: A Medical Anthology, University of Windsor
Ontario, Canada
http://hih.uwindsor.ca/wordpress/
De Humani Corporis Fabrica, Vesalius on-line, the complete
text translated into English with the illustrations
http://vesalius.northwestern.edu/
Dream Anatomy, anatomical artwork resource
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/dreamanatomy/da_g_I-B-1-07.html
“England’s New Wonders”: Monstrous Births in the Early Modern Period
http://hih.uwindsor.ca/wordpress/index.php/2009/03/23/%e2%80%9cengland%e2%80%99s-new-wonders%e2%80%9d-monstrous-births-in-the-early-modern-period/
Gherkins & Tomatoes, a cite on food history and Medieval medicine
http://gherkinstomatoes.com/2009/09/25/13249/
Harry Potter and the History of Medicine, exhibit, Wash., DC.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/harrypottersworld/
Medical History Society of New Jersey
http://www.mhsnj.org/
Memento Mori web page on
historic medical texts
http://www.bookn3rd.com/?p=445
Exhibit on Monstrous Births & Teratology (on-line)
http://nyam.org/initiatives/im-histe_ter1.shtml
Mütter Museum, Philadelphia (Museum of weird medicine a must see!) www.collphyphil.org/mutter.asp
National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington DC
http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/
The most notorious body snatchers in history:
New York Academy of Medicine 'The Resurrectionists'
http://www.nyam.org/library/pages/historical_collections_resurrectionists
Nicholas Culpeper's herbal on-line
http://www.bibliomania.com/2/1/66/113/frameset.html
Reflections on Health in Society and Culture
http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/reflections/spring2008/
UMDNJ (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) medical
history library and archive.
http://www.umdnj.edu/librweb/speccoll/special_collections.html
Wellcome Library of the History of Medicine, London. Great
source for historic images
http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/
Morbid Anatomy, a constantly changing site for unusual human anatomy
related resources
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/
Museo di Storia Naturale, Italy
http://www.msn.unifi.it/CMpro-v-p-98.html
US National Library of Medicine - History of Medicine site
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/index.html
Index of Medieval Medical Images, UCLA
http://www.library.ucla.edu/biomed/his/immi/immi_originalproject.html
__________
• Kean University Department of History Main Page http://www.kean.edu/~history/
• Kean University Main
Page
http://www.kean.edu/
Also see Kean University's
History of science, technology and medicine main page.
http://www.kean.edu/~history/academic%20disciplines%20pages/history%20of%20science%20page.htm
