Sunday, December 20, 2009
Museum closed on Monday, December 21
The Federal Government in DC is closed on December 21 due to the snowstorm, so the Medical Museum will closed.
Sept 2010: European Association of Museums for the History of Medical Sciences
The 15th biannual conference of the European Association of Museums for the History of Medical Sciences (EAMHMS) will be held at the University of Copenhagen, 16–19 September, 2010.
This year's cross-disciplinary conference focuses on the challenge to museums posed by contemporary developments in medical science and technology.
The image of medicine that emerges from most museum galleries and exhibitions is still dominated by pre-modern and modern understandings of an anatomical and physiological body, and by the diagnostic and therapeutical methods and instruments used to intervene with the body at the `molar' and tangible level – limbs, organs, tissues, etc.
The rapid transition in the medical and health sciences and technologies over the last 50 years – towards a molecular understanding of human body in health and disease and the rise of a host of molecular and digital technologies for investigating and intervening with the body – is still largely absent in museum collections and exhibitions.
As a consequence, the public can rarely rely on museums to get an understanding of the development and impact of the medical and health sciences in the last 50 years. Biochemistry and molecular biology have resulted in entirely new diagnostic methods and therapeutic regimes and a flourishing biotech industry. The elucidation of the human genome and the emergence of proteomics has opened up the possibility of personalised molecular medicine. Advances in the material sciences and information technology have given rise to a innovative and highly productive medical device industry, which is radically transforming medical practices. But few museums have so far engaged seriously and in a sustained way with these and similar phenomena in the recent history of medical sciences and technologies.
The contemporary transition in medical and health science and technology towards molecularisation, miniaturisation, mediated visualisation, digitalisation and intangibilisation is a major challenge for the museum world; not only for medical museums, but also for museums of science and technology, and indeed for all kinds of museums with an interest in the human body and the methods for intervening with it, including art museums, natural history museums and museums of cultural history.
Contemporary medicine is not only a challenge to exhibition design practices and public outreach strategies but also to acquisition methodologies, collection management and collection-based research. How do museums today handle the material and visual heritage of contemporary medical and health science and technology? How do curators wield the increasing amount and kinds of intangible scientific and digital objects? Which intellectual, conceptual, and practical questions does this challenge give rise to?
The conference will address questions like (but not limited to):
+ How can an increasingly microanatomical, molecularised, invisible and intangible (mediated) human body be represented in a museum setting? Does the post-anatomical body require new kinds of museum displays?
+ How can museums make sense of contemporary molecular-based and digitalised diagnostic and thereapeutic technologies, instrumentation and investigation practices in their display practices?
+ How can museums make use of their older collections together with new acquisitions from contemporary medicine and health science and technology?
+ What is the role of the visual vs. the non-visual (hearing, smell, taste, touch) senses in curatorial practice and in the public displays of contemporary medical science and technology?
+ What can museums learn from science centers, art-science event venues etc. with respect to the public engagement with contemporary medical science and technology? And, vice versa, what can museums provide that these institutions cannot?
+ How can museums draw on bioart, `wet art' and other art forms to stimulate public engagement with the changing medical and health system?
+ How does physical representations of contemporary medicine in museum spaces relate to textual representations in print and digital representations on the web?
+ How can museums integrate emerging social web technologies (Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) in the build-up of medical and health exhibitions?
+ What kind of acquisition methods and policies are needed for museums to catch up with the development of contemporary medical science and technology, especially the proliferation of molecular and digital artefacts and images?
+ What kind of problems do museum encounter when they expand the acquisition domain from traditional textual, visual and tangible material objects to digital artefacts (including software, audio- and videorecordings, and digitally stored data) and non-tangible scientific objects.
+ How can participatory acquisitioning, crowd-sourcing, wiki-based methods, etc. (`museum 2.0') be employed for the preservation and curation of the contemporary medical heritage?
+ How can curatorial work in museums draw on medical research and engineering and on academic scholarship in the humanities and social sciences? And, vice versa, how can museums contribute to medical teaching and research and how can their collections stimulate the use of physical objects in the humanities and social sciences?
The conference will employ a variety of session formats. In addition to keynotes and sessions with individual presentations of current research and curatorial work there will also be discussion panels and object demonstration workshops.
We welcome submissions from a wide range of scholars and specialists – including, for example, curators in medical, science and technology museums; scholars in the history, philosophy and social studies of medicine, science and technology; scholars in science and technology studies, science communication studies, museum studies, material studies and visual culture studies; biomedical scientists and clinical specialists; medical, health and pharma industry specialists with an interest in science communication; engineers and designers in the medical device industry; artists, designers and architects with an interest in museum displays, etc.
This year's cross-disciplinary conference focuses on the challenge to museums posed by contemporary developments in medical science and technology.
The image of medicine that emerges from most museum galleries and exhibitions is still dominated by pre-modern and modern understandings of an anatomical and physiological body, and by the diagnostic and therapeutical methods and instruments used to intervene with the body at the `molar' and tangible level – limbs, organs, tissues, etc.
The rapid transition in the medical and health sciences and technologies over the last 50 years – towards a molecular understanding of human body in health and disease and the rise of a host of molecular and digital technologies for investigating and intervening with the body – is still largely absent in museum collections and exhibitions.
As a consequence, the public can rarely rely on museums to get an understanding of the development and impact of the medical and health sciences in the last 50 years. Biochemistry and molecular biology have resulted in entirely new diagnostic methods and therapeutic regimes and a flourishing biotech industry. The elucidation of the human genome and the emergence of proteomics has opened up the possibility of personalised molecular medicine. Advances in the material sciences and information technology have given rise to a innovative and highly productive medical device industry, which is radically transforming medical practices. But few museums have so far engaged seriously and in a sustained way with these and similar phenomena in the recent history of medical sciences and technologies.
The contemporary transition in medical and health science and technology towards molecularisation, miniaturisation, mediated visualisation, digitalisation and intangibilisation is a major challenge for the museum world; not only for medical museums, but also for museums of science and technology, and indeed for all kinds of museums with an interest in the human body and the methods for intervening with it, including art museums, natural history museums and museums of cultural history.
Contemporary medicine is not only a challenge to exhibition design practices and public outreach strategies but also to acquisition methodologies, collection management and collection-based research. How do museums today handle the material and visual heritage of contemporary medical and health science and technology? How do curators wield the increasing amount and kinds of intangible scientific and digital objects? Which intellectual, conceptual, and practical questions does this challenge give rise to?
The conference will address questions like (but not limited to):
+ How can an increasingly microanatomical, molecularised, invisible and intangible (mediated) human body be represented in a museum setting? Does the post-anatomical body require new kinds of museum displays?
+ How can museums make sense of contemporary molecular-based and digitalised diagnostic and thereapeutic technologies, instrumentation and investigation practices in their display practices?
+ How can museums make use of their older collections together with new acquisitions from contemporary medicine and health science and technology?
+ What is the role of the visual vs. the non-visual (hearing, smell, taste, touch) senses in curatorial practice and in the public displays of contemporary medical science and technology?
+ What can museums learn from science centers, art-science event venues etc. with respect to the public engagement with contemporary medical science and technology? And, vice versa, what can museums provide that these institutions cannot?
+ How can museums draw on bioart, `wet art' and other art forms to stimulate public engagement with the changing medical and health system?
+ How does physical representations of contemporary medicine in museum spaces relate to textual representations in print and digital representations on the web?
+ How can museums integrate emerging social web technologies (Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) in the build-up of medical and health exhibitions?
+ What kind of acquisition methods and policies are needed for museums to catch up with the development of contemporary medical science and technology, especially the proliferation of molecular and digital artefacts and images?
+ What kind of problems do museum encounter when they expand the acquisition domain from traditional textual, visual and tangible material objects to digital artefacts (including software, audio- and videorecordings, and digitally stored data) and non-tangible scientific objects.
+ How can participatory acquisitioning, crowd-sourcing, wiki-based methods, etc. (`museum 2.0') be employed for the preservation and curation of the contemporary medical heritage?
+ How can curatorial work in museums draw on medical research and engineering and on academic scholarship in the humanities and social sciences? And, vice versa, how can museums contribute to medical teaching and research and how can their collections stimulate the use of physical objects in the humanities and social sciences?
The conference will employ a variety of session formats. In addition to keynotes and sessions with individual presentations of current research and curatorial work there will also be discussion panels and object demonstration workshops.
We welcome submissions from a wide range of scholars and specialists – including, for example, curators in medical, science and technology museums; scholars in the history, philosophy and social studies of medicine, science and technology; scholars in science and technology studies, science communication studies, museum studies, material studies and visual culture studies; biomedical scientists and clinical specialists; medical, health and pharma industry specialists with an interest in science communication; engineers and designers in the medical device industry; artists, designers and architects with an interest in museum displays, etc.
We are especially interested in presentations that involve the use of material and visual artefacts and we therefore encourage participants to bring illustrative and evocative (tangible or non-tangible) objects for demonstration.
100-300 word proposals for presentations, demonstrations, discussion panels, etc. shall be sent before 28 February 2010 to the chair of the program committee, Thomas Soderqvist, ths@sund.ku.dk.
For further information, see http://tinyurl.com/ylx5atx or contact Thomas Soderqvist, ths@sund.ku.dk. For practical information about travel, accommodation, etc., please contact Anni Harris, konference2010@sund.ku.dk, after 4 January 2010.
The 15th biannual conference of EAMHMS is hosted by Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Morbid Anatomy on TV
Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy reports she's on YouTube: "My Library (and, sadly, me), Now on You Tube.
"For those of you who've not been to the Morbid Anatomy Library yet,
this short (and embarrassing) video will give you a sense of what I'm
up to over here in Brooklyn (and maybe urge some of you to come pay a
visit!). A bit hard to watch for me, but some of you may enjoy it."
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2009/12/morbid-anatomy-library-on-you-tube.html
You can also see her at
www.astropop.com
morbidanatomy.blogspot.com
"For those of you who've not been to the Morbid Anatomy Library yet,
this short (and embarrassing) video will give you a sense of what I'm
up to over here in Brooklyn (and maybe urge some of you to come pay a
visit!). A bit hard to watch for me, but some of you may enjoy it."
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2009/12/morbid-anatomy-library-on-you-tube.html
You can also see her at
www.astropop.com
morbidanatomy.blogspot.com
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Obituary for former AFIP staff
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/12/AR2009121202705.html
DAVID T. ARMITAGE, 70 ; Medical officer served at Walter Reed
| Matt Schudel | Washington Post |
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Dec 29: Program for Students (Grades 5-8) on Medieval Medicine
National Museum of Health and Medicine, Classroom
Who:
Students grades 5-8 (space is limited; pre-registration required; click here to download the registration form.) Students under age 15 must be accompanied by an adult.
What:
Participate in hands-on activities to learn about the history of medieval medicine and diseases of the time. Activities will include making a plague mask, creating a mini medieval herb garden, and designing a pomander. The program will include a tour of OUTBREAK. Presented in conjunction with OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History, on display through January 22, 2010.
Cost:
FREE.
For more information:
On the Web or call (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil
Tim Clarke, Jr. (Contractor, American Registry of Pathology)
Deputy Director (Communications), National Museum of Health and Medicine
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Building 54, Washington, D.C. 20307
Phone: (202) 782-2672 -- Mobile: (301) 814-4498 -- Fax: (202) 782-3573
Email: timothy.clarke@afip.osd.mil
Website: www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum
NMHM on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MedicalMuseum
NMHM on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MedicalMuseum
Mailing Address: NMHM/AFIP, PO Box 59685, Washington, D.C., 20012-0685
NOTE: We may be experiencing technical difficulties with email; if you have not received a reply, call (202) 782-2672 to follow-up.
Dec 30: Scientific Illustration Using a Microscope
Winter Break Workshop: Scientific Illustration Using a Microscope
When:
Wednesday, December 30, 2009, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Where:
National Museum of Health and Medicine, Classroom
Who:
Ages 15 and up (space is limited; pre-registration required; click here to download the registration form.)
What:
Want to try your hand at scientific illustration? The museum hosts a hands-on workshop on how to use microscopes to view germs and "animalcules" and to teach you how to draw what you see. We'll be drawing with pencils but if you have a favorite media bring it along. There will be a brief discussion of the history of illustration using microscopes, and a brief demonstration of how to use a scope. Presented in conjunction with OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History, on display through January 22, 2010.
Cost:
FREE.
For more information:
On the Web or call (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil
Tim Clarke, Jr. (Contractor, American Registry of Pathology)
Deputy Director (Communications), National Museum of Health and Medicine
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Building 54, Washington, D.C. 20307
Phone: (202) 782-2672 -- Mobile: (301) 814-4498 -- Fax: (202) 782-3573
Email: timothy.clarke@afip.osd.mil
Website: www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum
NMHM on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MedicalMuseum
NMHM on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MedicalMuseum
Mailing Address: NMHM/AFIP, PO Box 59685, Washington, D.C., 20012-0685
NOTE: We may be experiencing technical difficulties with email; if you have not received a reply, call (202) 782-2672 to follow-up.
Monday, December 14, 2009
NY Times article on drugs for menopause
The original article is illustrated with advertisements which the slug below doesn't mention, but which does show a usfeul side of trade literature collections.
Menopause, as Brought to You by Big Pharma
Lawsuits and internal documents show how Pfizer and its predecessors promoted the idea of taking hormone drugs.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Bryn Barnard at Museum photos
Ace amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie has put up his photographs of Bryn Barnard speaking at the Museum last weekend. I couldn't make the talk, and I don't know if we recorded it. I can check if anyone would like. We may still have signed copies of his book "Outbreak" as well.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Jim Edmondson on 'Dissection' on Lopate radio show
Leonard Lopate Show / December 07, 2009
Dissection
Author James Edmonson, Chief Curator of the Dittrick Medical Center and Museum at Case Western Reserve University, explains why, in the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, medical students took pictures of themselves with the cadavers they dissected. His book Dissection: Photographs of a Rite of Passage in American Medicine includes 138 rare, historic photographs that reveal a strange piece of American medical history
Dissection
Author James Edmonson, Chief Curator of the Dittrick Medical Center and Museum at Case Western Reserve University, explains why, in the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, medical students took pictures of themselves with the cadavers they dissected. His book Dissection: Photographs of a Rite of Passage in American Medicine includes 138 rare, historic photographs that reveal a strange piece of American medical history
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Dec 9: Lecture on emerging diseases
Lecture at the NMHM: Investigating Emerging Diseases
When: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
| What: Dr. Michael Turell, a research entomologist with the Virology Division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute on Infectious Disease, will discuss the institute's role in investigating several outbreaks including Hantavirus, Ebola, and West Nile virus. |
Cost: FREE.
For more information: (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil
900,000 and counting
We've broken the 900,000 mark on our Flickr account. Hot dog. That's an average of about 524 views per image. But our most-viewed image?
MIS 66-9275 has 63,345 views
MIS 66-9275 has 63,345 views
Dec 9: AFIP professional staff conference by Museum curator
The following lecture is presented by the National Museum of Health and Medicine
Date/Time: 09 Dec 09/1100am
Location: Dart Auditorium
Speaker(s): Franklin Damann
Curator
National Museum of Health and Medicine
Title: Human Decomposition Ecology
Details: The museum Curator discusses recent research exploring the regulation of human decomposition at the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility. One goal of this research is to assess the potential the microbial community to estimate time since death.
Department of Medical Education
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
6825 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20306-6000
Ph: (202) 782-2596
Friday, December 4, 2009
Jan Herman on History of Naval Medicine in World War 2
Navy Medicine in the Last Campaigns: Iwo Jima and Okinawa
The presenter is Jan Herman, M.A.
Historian of the Naval Medical Department
Special Assistant to the Navy Surgeon General
http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=7b8b1494-f99f-4726-8177-46b28a75bd7f
Famous brain dissected for study
The brain of Henry Molaison, who could not form memories after his brain surgery, is being dissected – you can read about it in this article - Dissection Begins on Famous Brain, By BENEDICT CAREY, December 3, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/health/research/03brain.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=brain%20memory&st=cse and view it live here - http://thebrainobservatory.ucsd.edu/hm_live.php
We have a very large brain collection in our Neuroanatomical Division.
Harvard's Comparative Zoology Museum
A nice article on the Museum is at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/HarvardGazette12.03.091.pdf
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Dec 5: The Art and Science of "OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History"
The Art and Science of "OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History"
with the artist Bryn Barnard
When: Saturday, December 5, 2009, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Feel free to drop in; no reservations required.)
| What: Bryn Barnard, author and artist of "OUTBREAK," will host three exciting programs on Saturday, December 5, 2009, including an illustration workshop and a special session aimed at younger audiences. Free, open to the public, no reservations required. See the schedule below for more details. Questions? Call (202) 782-2673 or email nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil. Schedule: (Come for one program, or stay for the whole day!): 11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Book Signing (limited quantity of books available for sale in the Museum gift shop) 1:00 p.m.: “OUTBREAK: Plagues That Changed History”—Join Bryn Barnard for a discussion about several diseases represented in his book, including the plague, cholera, tuberculosis, and toxoplasmosis. 2:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.: Book Signing and Coffee Break with the Artist 3:00 p.m.: Family Program: Children will enjoy this special presentation on illustrating science books, including a demonstration by the artist! Presentation will be followed by a book signing. |
Dec 9: Lecture at the NMHM: Investigating Emerging Diseases
Lecture at the NMHM: Investigating Emerging Diseases
When: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
| What: Dr. Michael Turell, a research entomologist with the Virology Division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute on Infectious Disease, will discuss the institute's role in investigating several outbreaks including Hantavirus, Ebola, and West Nile virus. |
Cost: FREE.
For more information: (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil
Suraci photo album
We have the Alfred J. Suraci (1911-1993) Collection in the archives, which includes the papers and two photograph albums Dr. Suraci made of his World War 2 patients at Northington General Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Later Dr. Suraci was the chief of plastic surgery at Providence Hospital, Prince George's Doctor's Hospital, and Sibley Memorial Hospital. Here are scans of the cover of one of the albums and a title page.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Can we make 1,000,000 Flickr views in 2009?
We're at 898,380 photostream views now. Or 1,149,005 photos and video views. I'm not sure what the difference is, but anyone who wants to help push our Flickr views over 1 million will be appreciated. Since we've figured out how to email pictures to the site, I'm sure there will be more to view.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Painting by Samuel Bookatz in Museum
There's an obituary for Samuel Bookatz in today's Washington Post - in our collection is an oil portrait of Ross T. McIntire, Franklin D. Roosevelt's physician, by Samuel Bookatz (1942).
Now that I'm at home, I can post the pictures.
Bookatz at the Medical Museum in 1990, cleaning up the paperwork on the painting.
A bad snapshot of the painting.
Now that I'm at home, I can post the pictures.
Bookatz at the Medical Museum in 1990, cleaning up the paperwork on the painting.
A bad snapshot of the painting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)