Fall Session   

Sept 19, 2024:  Crime and Measurement

Explore the fast-paced, dynamic field of forensics through the lens of an anthropologist. In this introductory lecture, we'll explore the latest technology deployed at death scenes and criminal investigations, alongside the various  methods of identifying human remains. 

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Oct 3, 2024: Relics and Specimens

The bodies of the dead are compelling, collectable, and important forms of capital for many institutions. Against the backdrop of plundered graves and private auctions, this lecture is a journey into how and why the dead have become such emblematic features of contemporary culture.  

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Oct 23, 2024: Computer Cadavers

Through virtual dissection, the bad smells of the anatomy lab have

disappeared. Medical illustrations are now digital renders with perfect representations of the body. While these programs are highly praised, critics insist that its graduates lack the fortitude and resilience that can only come from the experiences of ‘the blood and guts’ of traditional dissection. This lecture explores the new art of human remains and asks whether anything virtual is good for medical students.

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Winter Session 

Jan 15, 2025: Morbus Novi Mundi?

On March 15, 1493 Columbus returned from his first trip to the ‘New World’ regaled with exotic gifts and tales of paradise. By his 4th voyage he was shackled and howling madly through the streets of Cadiz, Spain. Soon after, Europe was engulfed by a strange epidemic. Coincidence, or the arrival of an unleashed pathogen? This lecture takes you on a unique journey to the New World and back where we follow Columbus’s crew, explore archaeological artifacts, and uncover the nature of this mysterious scourge that changed Western medicine forever.

 

Jan 29, 2025: Mystics, Mathematics and Mercury

Ancient priests and philosophers established an ethos which contemporary physicists maintain; that only numbers can uncover the secrets of the universe.  But secrets and symbols are everything especially when shrouded in mystery. Come along on this fun-filled introduction to math and its magical roots where high priests mediate and gods punish. 

 

Feb 12, 2025: Dolor et Insomnes

From the 1600s onward, art, medicine, politics, and literature were increasingly informed by the syphilitic face and body. New fields of epidemiology and plastic surgery evolved, and early forms of chemotherapy were tested in response to the 'great scourge'. In 1665, Rembrandt painted a portrait of his dear friend whose face entered the collective memory and suddenly changed the notion of an 'inheritable disease'.

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