For this meeting, we will discuss selections from Alexis Shotwell's Against Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times.
This working group focuses on ethical and theoretical concerns with conducting research in the history of medicine and the human sciences, broadly conceived, as well as on questions of writing and naming practices; citation practices; aspects of access to source material; and the roles of historians in public-facing and activist scholarship. Our intention is to also bring historians into conversation with archivists, librarians, and curators, to discuss and develop nuanced strategies for accessing, analyzing, and archiving sensitive material, human remains, and patient data. We also intend to address the violence and colonialism of our historical actors, as it is often contained and continued within archives, and to develop strategies for working with such materials and addressing such histories without perpetuating this violence.
Consortium Respectful Behavior Policy
Participants at Consortium activities will treat each other with respect and consideration to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment that is free from any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
Participants will avoid any inappropriate actions or statements based on individual characteristics such as age, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, nationality, political affiliation, ability status, educational background, or any other characteristic protected by law. Disruptive or harassing behavior of any kind will not be tolerated. Harassment includes but is not limited to inappropriate or intimidating behavior and language, unwelcome jokes or comments, unwanted touching or attention, offensive images, photography without permission, and stalking.
Participants may send reports or concerns about violations of this policy to conduct@chstm.org.
Upcoming Meetings
Friday, October 17, 2025, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT
Friday, November 21, 2025, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EST
TBA
Friday, December 19, 2025, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EST
TBA
Friday, January 16, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EST
TBA
Friday, February 20, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EST
TBA
Friday, March 20, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT
TBA
Friday, April 17, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT
TBA
Friday, May 15, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT
TBA
Friday, June 19, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT
TBA
Past Meetings
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Discussion of selections from Susan Lawrence's Privacy and the Past: Research, Law, Archives, Ethics (2016) and Julia Laite's "The Emmet's Inch: Small History in a Digital Age."
Group Conveners
Kylie Smith
Kylie Smith is Associate Professor and Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellow for Nursing and the Humanities at Emory University and the 2021 Presidents Humanities Fellow at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Her previous book Talking Therapy: Knowledge and Power in American Psychiatric Nursing (Rutgers University Press, 2020) has won two book of the year awards. Her new project Jim Crow in the Asylum: Psychiatry and Civil Rights in the American South is supported by the National Library of Medicine G13 award. She is the current Editor in Chief of Nursing Philosophy and has been book review editor for Nursing History Review and Chair of Awards and Board Member of the American Association for the History of Nursing.
Courtney Thompson
Courtney Thompson is associate professor of the history of science and medicine and women’s and gender history in the Department of History at Mississippi State University, where she also chairs the Medical Humanities Certificate program. Her first book, An Organ of Murder: Crime, Violence, and Phrenology in Nineteenth-Century America, was published in February 2021 with Rutgers University Press; she has also published articles and short essays in Eighteenth-Century Studies; Social History of Medicine; Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences; Isis; and Endeavour. She currently serves as the Book Review Editor for Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.
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