Hello all,
Welcome to another edition of HPS News! Read on for some of the exciting things happening in the HPS Program at the University of Melbourne.
1. Join us! Launch of the Medical Humanities Lab
The diagnosis: a skeletal doctor measures a patient's pulse. Lithograph by L. Crusius, 1897. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection.
The Medical Humanities Research Lab at the University of Melbourne is officially launching! Comprised of an interdisciplinary team, the lab includes our own Dr Jacinthe Flore, Dr James Bradley, Dr Kerstin Knight, Dr Kate Lynch, Dr Fallon Mody and current HPS PhD candidates, Christopher Orrell and Zoe Cosker.
The official launch is next week, Tuesday 3 September from 17:00, in the Forum Theatre on Level 1 of Arts West at the Parkville campus.
Come join us for light refreshments followed by an exciting lecture by Prof Martyn Pickersgill (University of Edinburgh).
Psychiatric diagnoses are everywhere, serving as clinical categories and social tools for self-understanding. Diagnoses are often contested, even by mental health professionals. Drawing on historical and cultural studies of psychiatric knowledge, this talk will explore how diagnoses emerge, become established, and sometimes are discarded.
Everyone is welcome, but registrations are essential. Register here!
2. Listen to us! 'On Fatherhood, Families and Work' on The HPS Podcast
The HPS Podcast is back in action! After a break to do some scholarly work, PhD Candidate Samara Greenwood and Honours student, Carmelina Contarino, will be launching Season 4 in late September.
But first, something different. Over the next few weeks the podcast is publishing a five-part mini-series on all things 'Fatherhood, Families and Work in Contemporary Australia' created by our own Professor Cordelia Fine and colleagues.
It is a fascinating series. First episode is out now on The HPS Podcast here!
3. Listen to Us! Kate's Award Winning Program on De-Extinction
We are thrilled to announce that the Australasian Association of Philosophy has awarded the 2024 AAP Media prize (for best philosophical piece published by professional philosophers in the popular media) to our very own Dr Kate Lynch and collaborator Dr Christopher Lean.
Kate and Chris were awarded the prestigious prize for their work on the two part program 'De-Extinction' developed for The Philosopher's Zone on ABC Radio. Full details of the prize, including judges comments, other shortlisted entries and past winners, can be found here. More information and links to Kate and Chris's program below:
Gene technology has brought us to the point where it's theoretically possible to bring back extinct animals from the "species grave". But the science is not straightforward - and neither is the philosophy. There are complicated questions of environmental ethics involved, as well as metaphysical questions that have to do with identity. Is a reverse-genetically-engineered woolly mammoth really a woolly mammoth?
The project of bringing extinct animals back into being is sexy, hi-tech and could confer significant environmental benefits. But it's uncharted territory, and some argue that resurrecting extinct species could actually work against the conservation of threatened species that currently exist. Why worry about their possible extinction, if we can just bring them back?
4. A Great Day! HPS at UniMelb Open Day
Prof Fiona Fidler and Dr Jacinthe Flore at UniMelb Open Day 2024. Posters and Photography by Dr Fallon Mody.
Dr Gerhard Wiesenfeldt presenting historical experiments. Posters and Photography by Dr Fallon Mody.
Last weekend was University of Melbourne's Open Day, and it was a huge event for the HPS team. We had a constant stream of visitors to the info table, a full lecture theatre for the talk by Dr Kristian Camilleri on 'What is HPS?' and Dr Gerhard Wiesenfeldt presented historical electricity experiments for five hours in full costume! Wonderful posters were produced by Dr Fallon Mody, and other support on the day was provided by a range of our HPS scholars and students. Thanks to all!
5. Save the Date! Our inaugural HPS Halloween Event
Finally, we are very excited to announce that Dr Fallon Mody and team are organising our inaugural HPS Halloween Event. The event will be hosted in partnership with University House and held on the evening of Wednesday 30th October. Do save the date, it is sure to be a blast! More details and how to register coming soon...
Thanks for reading our news and we hope you have a wonderful week,
From HPS@UniMelb
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If you have any comments or suggestions for the newsletter, feel free to email me at samarag@unimelb.edu.au
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