Northern Centre for the History of Medicine

Contact

The Northern Centre for the History of Medicine is a partnership between the medical historians at Newcastle University and Durham University. It was founded in 2003 and is supported by the Wellcome Trust.

Aims of the Northern Centre

  • to promote research in the History of Medicine of the highest international quality;
  • to consolidate and expand critical mass and further promote research synergies in the subject (both locally, nationally and internationally);
  • to provide undergraduate teaching and postgraduate training programmes (at Masters and PhD level) comprehensively covering medical history from antiquity until the 20th century and thus to nurture a new generation of HoM scholars;
  • to further strengthen the HoM component in the medical curriculum and enhance historical awareness among members of the medical profession;
  • to support effective outreach and public engagement across the region

Activities of the Northern Centre

To achieve these aims, the Centre hosts and promotes the following activities:

  • A co-ordinated programme of collaborative research activities involving members of both partner institutions;
  • Further development and expansion of undergraduate courses in the subject;
  • Further development and co-ordination of our Masters programmes in History of Medicine, in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, and in Palaeopathology;
  • Close involvement of PhDs and RAs in research projects, supported by careful individual mentoring arrangements;
  • Seminar series and workshops/conferences devoted to specific collaborative themes involving members of both partner institutions (the Northern Centre will host the 2010 conference of the Society for the Social History of Medicine on a theme related to the Strategic Award)
  • Invitation of distinguished medical historians from elsewhere to take part in the activities of the Centre as Visiting Fellows;
  • Continuation and broadening of our teaching offerings in the medical curriculum;
  • Continuation and further diversification of Public Engagement and Outreach activities in co-operation with Newcastle’s Public Lectures/debates programme Insights, the International Centre for Life, the café scientifique activities organised by Newcastle’s Research Centre for Politics and Ethics of the Life Sciences (PEALS) and Durham’s Wolfson Institute, local schools and other forums

Current research programme

The Northern Centre recently received a £750K Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for a new research project entitled “Knowledge, Ethics and Representation of Medicine and Health – Historical Perspectives”, which will be divided into six sub-themes:

  • Histories and Traditions of Medical Knowledge
  • Histories of Medical Practice, Ethics and Expertise
  • Historical Responses to Mental Illness and Disability
  • History of Bodies, Sexualities and Reproduction
  • Geographies and Archaeologies of Health and Disease
  • The Representation of Medicine in Literature and Fine Art

Further information

For further information about the activities of the Northern Centre see the Centre website (currently under construction).

For further information about the Newcastle part of the Northern Centre see here.