Author Archives: Catherine

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Web editor, De Partu

Having a Baby in Nantwich during the Mid- to Late Seventeenth Century

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© Nantwich Museum, 2021


Sara Read, Loughborough University, and Janette Allotey, De Partu History of Childbirth Group and Nantwich Museum, will explore the role of midwives during the mid- to late seventeenth century, which includes the Civil War period. It will be described how one Nantwich midwife, Anne Knutsford, achieved local notoriety and subsequently spent many years trying to clear her name and regain her licence to practise midwifery.  Her case is well documented in archival records and has become of interest to modern-day social historians. 

Tickets can be purchased through the Museum’s website: https://nantwichmuseum.org.uk/product/midwifery-in-the-english-civil-war-webinar/

Scottish Society of the History of Medicine Symposium (12–13 March 2021)

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The Scottish Society of the History of Medicine will be holding a special symposium on “Teaching anatomy from Classical to modern times” – Friday 12th and Saturday 13th March 2021.

Download the brochure and registration form.

Introduction

This two day symposium is being organised by the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine, in association with the British Society for the History of Medicine and the History Society of the Royal Society of Medicine. The aim is to explore the development of anatomy teaching from the earliest times to the present day.

Presentations will cover the ways in which anatomical knowledge has been acquired, portrayed and taught. We will examine the evolution of techniques used in the teaching of anatomy through the ages and its relevance not only to surgery and medicine, but also to art and society in general.

The programme includes keynote lectures, invited speakers and short papers. We welcome short papers from a range of perspectives including historical, social, cultural and modern innovations.

Symposium Topics

  • The rise and fall of comparative anatomy
  • Cadaveric model
  • Wax and paper models
  • Anatomy textbooks
  • The rise and fall of the private anatomy schools
  • The role of anatomy museums
  • Modern technologies
  • Anatomy in art
  • Leonardo’s anatomy
  • Anatomy potpourri: Humour/mnemonics/cartoons etc.

Venue

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Nicolson Street
Edinburgh
EH8 9DW

New book reviews

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Reviews of the following titles are now available on the Book Reviews page:

Lara Freidenfels (2020)
The myth of the perfect pregnancy: A history of miscarriage in America

Anja Katharina Peters (2020)
Nanna Conti (1881-1951): Eine Biographie der Reichshebammenführerin
[English abstract]

Karen Harvey (2020)
The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder: Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England

Karen Hearn (2020)
Portraying Pregnancy: from Holbein to Social Media

Wellcome Collection: Exploring Research Seminar Series, Spring 2020

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Library Viewing Room, 2nd Floor, Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London

For all events, doors open at 17.15, seminars start promptly at 17.30

For all enquiries, email: ResearchDevelopmentTeam@wellcome.ac.uk

For more details of events, see: https://wellcomecollection.org/event-series

Tuesday 3rd March 2020:

Title: Surrogacy as reproductive labour

Speaker: Dr Sigrid Vertommen is a research fellow at the Department of Conflict and Development Studies at Ghent University, and an affiliated scholar at the Sociology of Reproduction Research Group of the University of Cambridge.

Talk: Dr Vertommen will explore the porous boundaries between gift-commodity, motherhood-work, altruism-profit in the fertility industry. 

Tuesday 17th March 2020:

Title: ‘Do NOT Flush Feminine Waste’: The History of the UK Sanitary Bin’ 

Speaker: Dr Camilla Mørk Røstvik is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews.

Talk: Dr Røstvik will examine the incinerators that led to calls for better menstrual waste management in the 1940s, the growth of the bin cleaning system in the 1960s, and the industry’s intersection with environmental and menstrual activism in the late-twentieth century.

March 14th 2020: History of childbirth event at the Foundling Museum, London

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This fantastic event takes place from 10am until 4pm and includes free entry to the Museum, free entry to the ‘Portraying Pregnancy …’ exhibition and a presentation by its curator Professor Karen Hearn, who is the author of an accompanying book, plus a programme of lectures. Lunch and refreshments are provided.

Note to lecturers and students: a limited number of student places are available at a reduced cost.

Teaching anatomy from classical to modern times: SSHM

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Download booking form

This two day symposium is being organised by the Scottish Society
of the History of Medicine, in association with the British Society for
the History of Medicine and the History Society of the Royal Society
of Medicine. The aim is to explore the development of anatomy
teaching from the earliest times to the present day.

Presentations will cover the ways in which anatomical knowledge has
been acquired, portrayed and taught. We will examine the evolution
of techniques used in the teaching of anatomy through the ages and
its relevance not only to surgery and medicine, but also to art and
society in general.

The programme includes keynote lectures, invited speakers and short
papers. We welcome short papers from a range of perspectives
including historical, social, cultural and modern innovations.

IHR History Day 2019: 19th November

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Discover research collections at this free one-day event designed for history students, researchers and writers, run by the Institute of Historical Research:

  • Plan your next research project
  • Meet specialist librarians & archivists
  • Hear from historical organisations
  • Talk to publishers
  • Build your network

The day includes a history fair showcasing over 50 libraries, archives and other historical organisations, offering one on-one advice on your research.

Book now at www.history.ac.uk/historyday

19 November 2019, 10:00am – 4:00pm
Beveridge Hall, Ground Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU

Contact ihr.events@sas.ac.uk
020 7862 8740

When was reproduction invented? A debate in the Cambridge Festival of Ideas…

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Oocyte image

From abortion to climate crisis, intimate experiences to planetary policy, reproduction presents urgent challenges today. This debate invites participants to stand back and take a long view.
The panellists, including the editors of the field-defining synthesis, Reproduction: Antiquity to the Present Day (Cambridge, 2018), will lead a discussion of when, how and for what purposes reproduction as we know it was made.
At one extreme, we could give reproduction a history that goes back to the evolution of life on earth. At the other, we might highlight the major changes of the decades after World War II, such as the pill and in vitro fertilization. But strong cases can be made for periods in between—for ancient Greek philosophers, medieval priests, Enlightenment savants and Malthusian couples—and this event will also consider their claims.

Panel: Rebecca Flemming, Susan Golombok, Nick Hopwood and Lauren Kassell
Chair: Jim Secord
Thursday 17 October: 6:00pm–7:30pm
St John’s College Fisher Building, St John’s Street, Cambridge CB2 1TP
Entry is free, but you have to book.

Reconceiving the womb in medicine, law and society

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Description:

This symposium will explore diverse womb-related developments from the past, present and future, investigating important ethical and socio-legal questions emerging from new and future technologies.

Historically, the womb has featured in medical, social and legal debates about women. A functioning womb saved a woman from the ‘curse’ of barrenness, but also was often blamed for women’s erratic behaviour and used to deny women many opportunities and legal rights. What can we learn from women’s ‘hystories’? Today, attempts are repeatedly made to police pregnancy, interfering with women’s rights on the grounds of fetal health, as the womb is treated as a conflict zone for public health. The womb also is a focus of reproductive futures. Until recently, pregnancy was only possible for a woman born with a healthy womb, but science is facilitating exciting possibilities for gestation such as artificial wombs. Will the womb become a non-binary reproductive organ?

Schedule:

These and other exciting questions will be addressed through three diverse sessions, each encompassing two or three prepared talks followed by a panel discussion.

9.30 – 10: Arrival and Coffee

10 – 10.15: Welcome and Introductions

10.15 – 12: Reflecting on women’s hystories: ‘wandering wombs’ in science and society (Session 1)

12 – 12.30: Coffee Break

12.30 – 2.15: Exploring reproductive autonomy: the womb and evolving attitudes, rights and responsibilities (Session 2)

2.15 – 3: Lunch

3 – 4.30: Speculating about reproductive futures: partial ectogenesis and
de-gendering reproduction (Session 3)

4.30 – 5: Close

5 – 6: Wine Reception

Confirmed speakers:

Session 1: Professor Margaret Brazier (University of Manchester), Dr Sarah Fox (University of Manchester) and Caroline Henaghan (University of Manchester)

Session 2: Professor Stephen Wilkinson (Lancaster University), Dr Nicola Williams (Lancaster University) and Dunja Begovic (University of Manchester)

Session 3: Professor Emily Jackson (London School of Economics) and Elizabeth Chloe Romanis (University of Manchester)

Confirmed panellists:

Dr Amel Alghrani (University of Liverpool), Professor Rebecca Bennett (University of Manchester), Professor Susan Bewley (King’s College London), Catherine Bowden (University of Manchester), Professor Emma Cave (Durham University), Dr Alexandra Mullock (University of Manchester), Laura O’Donovan (Lancaster University)

Mon, 4 November 2019
09:30 – 17:00 GMT

The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL

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Admission free – register via Eventbrite

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