What: Le Docteur Is In: Medicine and Malady in Turn of the Century French Culture
When: Thursday, March 7th, 2013, at 7:00 PM
Who: Michaela Marin, Associate Professor, Foreign Languages and Literatures and Susan McCready, Professor, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Where:True’s Midtown (click here for map)

More Details:

Doctors had long been the butt of the joke in France: charlatans and grifters with educational standards somewhere between those of bakers and barbers. But over time, doctors professionalized. By the late nineteenth century, a serious hygiene movement was underway: the “art” of medicine was transforming itself into a “science” and vague symptoms were being organized by the new medical professionals into diseases with names and treatments.

Part One: What’s in a name?

How does naming a condition transform a physical state into a “symptom”?

Is language an infectious agent?

Part Two: Huckster or Hygienist?

How were anxieties over the new science of medicine and the status of doctors reflected in literature? Is laughter the best medicine?

Never heard of a Science Café?

Science cafés are live—and lively—events that take place in casual settings such as pubs and coffeehouses, are open to everyone, and feature an engaging conversation with a scientist about a particular topic.

The science café format has spread across the globe, adapting to different cultures and audiences. Whether it’s in a bar in Somerville, MA, an Indian restaurant in New Rochelle, NY, or a coffeehouse in San Francisco, CA, each café:

• Encourages conversation, debate, and interaction.

Successful science cafés create a comfortable atmosphere where everyone joins in. They are not long lectures with a passive audience listening to an expert.

• Reaches out to all audiences.

Science cafés welcome people who may or may not typically get involved with scientific discussions. They are not exclusive club meetings for scientists and science majors.