Monday, February 6, 2012

Invitation for Keynote Speakers/Student Presentations for 3rd West Coast Symposium in the History of Medicine

The Third West Coast Symposium in the History of Medicine invites participants for a two-day symposium on March 30-31, 2012, sponsored jointly by the Department of Humanities in Medicine (Texas A&M Health Science Center), The Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research (Texas A&M University), and the History of Medicine and Health Care Program at the University of Calgary, Alberta (Canada) where the preceding symposia were hosted.

The symposium will cover the history of health-related disciplines, to include a range of topics from ancient to the modern period. One special theme will be 'Civil War Medicine', in commemoration of its 150th Anniversary with a keynote speaker, Mr. George Wunderlich, Director, National Museum of Civil War Medicine. An accompanying exhibit from the National Institutes of Health will feature 'The Henkel Physicians: A Family's Life in Letters': a portrayal of the impact of the Civil War on daily lives in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

The program will also include a second distinguished keynote speaker, Dr. Stanley Finger, Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Finger has published much concerning the history of neuroscience and medicine, especially the relationship between brain and behavior as perceived by scientists in earlier time periods.

There will be awards for the best paper and poster, a reception/banquet, and musical concerts. The symposium will take place at the splendid new Health Professions Education Building at the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Bryan, Texas (USA).

The object of the symposium is to encourage and highlight student research/scholarship to sharpen awareness of what is continuous with the present, and what lessons and insights can be learned form the past to prepare for the future. Our mission is to (a) foster interdisciplinary and trans-chronological exchanges among new and emerging scholars; (b) to create a safe platform where they can share and discuss research with peers and faculty; (c) to stimulate student networking in related disciplines across State/National/International institutions.

For more information, please visit http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/basic-sciences/him/symposium/index.html.

Call for Applications for 2012 NEH Summer Seminar on France's Haunting Past

2012 NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers
“France’s Haunting Past: Debating Twentieth Century History and French National Identity Since 1990”

The NEH Summer Scholar Seminar for College and University Teachers, “France’s Haunting Past: Debating Twentieth-Century History and French National Identity since 1990,” is a five week seminar from June 5 – July 5, 2012. The purpose of the seminar is to explore and discuss four historical controversies that erupted during the 1990s and that shaped, and continue to shape French perspectives on the nation’s troubled twentieth-century past, even today. These controversies focused on World War I and its legacies of violence and political extremism, Vichy and French complicity in the Holocaust, decolonization and the Algerian War, and Communism and its crimes in Europe and around the world. Our seminar will also explore representative recent literary and cinematic treatments of the historical events that provoked these controversies, and visit monuments and museums in and around Paris that recall these traumatic events and commemorate the victims. Our seminar will conclude with a discussion of French efforts to come to terms and reconcile the nation with its troubled past, including especially the passage from the early 1990s up to the present of the so-called “Memorial Laws.” These laws continue to spark sharp debate among historians, politicians, and legal specialists.

The Seminar will take place in Paris from June 5 to July 5, 2012. Meetings will occur twice a week, with one meeting per week occurring at the Institut d’Histoire du Temps Présent (IHTP) and one meeting per week at the Centre International de Séjour de Paris, the recommended residence for participants during the period of the seminar. Summer Scholars will also take field trips at the end of the first week to Historial at Peronne, the national museum of World War I, located a few hours by bus from Paris. They will also visit the Mont Valerien on the outskirts of Paris, as well as other monuments commemorating the French experience during World War II. In the letter from the project director, you will find a detailed description of the seminar, its rationale and guest speakers and activities, as well as a discussion of logistical matters including especially lodging and meals.

For more information and to apply, please visit http://glasscock.tamu.edu/NEHSS2012/index.html