Harvard History of Science and MIT HASTS are pleased to announce the 11th annual meeting of the Joint Atlantic Seminar for the History of Medicine. It will take place on October 25-26 in Cambridge, MA. Registration is open until October 1. [Registration is now closed. If you would like to come please inquire with the co-chairs directly via jasmed2013@gmail.com. Thanks!]

The conference theme this year will be “Innovating the History of Medicine.” The field is vibrant, bringing rigorous historical analysis to urgent questions in health care and the health sciences. But as questions evolve, sources diversify, disciplinary boundaries waver and dissolve, and global sites become ever more accessible, it is an ideal moment to engage in collective imagining about the future of the history of medicine.

To that end, we called for abstracts from not only the traditional fields of history of medicine and public health, but from scholars working on problems in health and medicine in all allied fields. These could include history and anthropology of the natural sciences, medical anthropology, and science studies. They could also include less traditional contributions from other historical fields, from political to economic to physics to art. The problems could fall within the history of health and healing, medical ideas, practices, and institutions, illness, disease, and bodies, from all eras and regions of the world.

The conference itself, hosted on the MIT and Harvard Campuses, will be constituted of 12 graduate student presentations as well as presentation workshops, a panel discussion with faculty, and time for socializing with peers and colleagues. An annual gathering of early career historians of medicine and public health, coordinated by graduate students, JASMed was founded in 2002 with a mission of fostering a collegial intellectual community and providing a forum for sharing and critiquing graduate research among peers. We welcome all participants and are eager to hear new voices in the history of medicine and allied fields. More information is available elsewhere on this website. Registration for the conference is free.

Looking forward to seeing you in October!

-- Emily Harrison and Lan Li (Co-Chairs), along with the JAS-Med Steering Committee and the Harvard History of Science and MIT HASTS Community