CfP: Joint Atlantic Seminar for the History of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University Institute for the History of Medicine is
pleased to host the 15th Joint Atlantic Seminar for the History of
Medicine, October 13-14, 2017 in Baltimore.
JASMed is convened annually for the presentation of research by young
scholars working on the history of medicine and public health. The
meeting was founded in 2002 to foster a collegial intellectual community
that provides a forum for sharing and critiquing graduate research.
We welcome student presentations on any topic and time period and
especially hope to receive submissions that speak to this year’s theme,
“Truth, Power, and Objectivity in the History of Medicine.” As Bruno
Latour cautioned in his 2004 essay “Why has critique run out of steam?
From matters of fact to matters of concern,” by demonstrating the lack
of scientific certainty and socially constructed nature of facts in
their work, historians of science, medicine, and technology are at risk
of potentiating the arguments of political extremists, such as climate
change skeptics or HIV denialists. This theme directs our attention to
the ways in which historians of medicine both establish truths and call
them into question. Broadly conceived, the theme highlights questions of
perspective and power, including the intersections of race, gender,
class, sexuality, and disability. It also invites us to critically
consider methodological issues in the field, such as which actors get
voices in our narratives, how sources can be used to emphasize or
obscure different viewpoints, how evidence and authority are mobilized
and balanced, and how claims of objectivity in the medical and
scientific discourses influence both our scholarship and the ways it is
interpreted.
We encourage submissions from a wide range of scholarly disciplines
and are eager to hear new voices in the history of medicine and allied
fields. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and clearly convey
the argument, sources, and relationship to existing literature of the
paper to be presented. Please submit an abstract no later than June 15,
2017 to jashistofmed.wordpress.com/submit.
Registration for the conference is free and will open in September
2017. If you have any questions, please be in touch via email at
jashistofmed@gmail.com. We look forward to welcoming you to Baltimore
this fall!