History of Medicine and Science
L-132 Sterling Hall of Medicine, 785.4338
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.
Chair and Director of Graduate Studies
John Harley Warner
Faculty
Asger Aaboe (Emeritus, History of Science), Joseph Fruton
(Emeritus, Biochemistry), John Heilbron (Visiting, History),
Daniel Kevles (History), Martin Klein (Emeritus, Physics),
Susan Lederer (History of Medicine), David Musto (Child Study),
Naomi Rogers (Women’s & Gender Studies; History
of Medicine), Frank Snowden (History), William Summers (Molecular
Biophysics & Biochemistry), Frank Turner (History), John
Harley Warner (History of Medicine)
Affiliated Faculty
Cynthia Connolly (Nursing), Robert Gordon (Geophysics &
Applied Mechanics), Dimitri Gutas (Near Eastern Languages
& Civilizations), Ann Hanson (Classics), Bettyann Kevles
(History), Jennifer Klein (History), Cynthia Russett (History),
Rebecca Tannenbaum (History)
Fields of Study
All subjects and periods in the history of medicine
and history of science. Special fields represented include
American science and medicine; Asian science and medicine,
Arabic science and medicine; disease, therapeutics, psychiatry,
drug abuse, and public health; physics; science and national
security; science and law, science and religion, life sciences,
human genetics, eugenics, molecular biology, biotechnology,
microbiology, intellectual property, gender, race, and science/medicine;
bioethics and medical research.
Special Admissions Requirements
Applicants should have a strong undergraduate background
in history and in a science relevant to the direction of their
graduate interests. These requirements will be applied with
flexibility, and outstanding performance in any field pertinent
to the program will be taken into consideration.
Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
Students are required to pass reading proficiency
requirements in French and German; a student intending to
concentrate in a field or period that requires another foreign
language, ancient or modern, may, with approval, substitute
that language for either French or German. Students will ordinarily
take twelve term courses during the first two years. All students
will normally take the two-term core seminar sequence HSHM
601a/602b or equivalents, four additional graduate seminars
in history of science or medicine, and at least one graduate
course in a field of history outside of science or medicine.
The remaining courses can be taken in history of medicine
or science, history, science, or any other field of demonstrated
special relevance to the student’s scholarly objectives.
Two of the twelve courses must be graduate research seminars
in the History of Medicine and Science.
Students who enter having previously completed graduate
work may obtain some credit toward the completion of the total
course requirement, the amount being contingent on the extent
and nature of the previous work and its fit with their intended
course of study at Yale.
All students are expected, prior to entering on their dissertation
work, to develop a general knowledge of two broad fields in
the history of science and/or the history of medicine. This
knowledge may be acquired through a combination of advanced
course work taken at Yale or elsewhere, regular participation
in the Program colloquia and workshops, and preparation for
the qualifying oral examination.
Students will normally spend the summer following their
second year preparing for the oral Qualifying Examination,
which will be taken in the third year, preferably during the
first half of it.
The Qualifying Examination will cover four areas of chosen
concentration
1. a field in the history of science or history of medicine;
2. a field in an area of history outside of medicine or
science;
3. a second field in the history of science or history of
medicine;
4. a field of special interest, the content and boundaries
to be established with the adviser for the field. The student
may elect to do a second field in history outside of history
of science or medicine; or a field in one of the sciences;
or a field in a subject such as bioethics, health policy,
public health, medical anthropology or sociology, science
and law, science and national security, science and religion,
biotechnology, gender, science and medicine; race, science,
and medicine; or cultural studies.
During their first year, all students will be advised by
the director of graduate studies. Students are encouraged
to discuss their interests and program of study with other
members of the faculty. At the beginning of the second year,
each student is to obtain an adviser who will provide guidance
in selecting courses and preparing for the Qualifying Examination.
The adviser may also offer help with the development of ideas
for the dissertation, but students are free to choose someone
else as the dissertation supervisor when the time comes to
do so.
Students are encouraged to begin thinking about their dissertation
topics during the second year. They are required to prepare
a Dissertation Prospectus as soon as possible following the
Qualifying Examination and to defend the Prospectus orally
before being admitted to full candidacy for the doctoral degree.
Teaching is an important part of the professional preparation
of graduate students in History of Medicine and Science. Students
will teach, usually in the third and fourth years of study.
Students are also encouraged to participate in the programs
to develop teaching skills offered by the Graduate School.
Master's Degrees
M.Phil. and M.A. See Graduate
School requirements.
Master's Degree Program
The M.A. program is designed particularly for those who plan to combine
teaching or scholarship in these fields with a professional career in medicine
or science. Students who enroll in the terminal master's degree program leading
to the M.A. are expected to complete six term courses during two terms of study
and submit an acceptable master's paper. Course work must include the graduate
seminar HSHM 601a/602b and one additional graduate seminar in history of medicine
or science. The remaining courses are to be chosen in consultation with the
director of graduate studies.
Program materials are available upon request to the Director of Graduate Studies,
History of Medicine and Science, Yale University, PO Box 208015, New Haven CT 06520-8015.
Courses
[HSHM 601a, Introduction to the History of Medicine
and Public Health.]
[HSHM 602b, Historiography of the Scientific Revolution.]
HSHM 619au, Methods and Literature in the History
of Medicine and Science. John Harley Warner and staff. T 1.30–3.20
Introduction to recent literature in the history of science,
medicine, and public health; to historiography issues; and
to methods used in historical research and writing. Members
of the faculty in the Program in the History of Medicine and
Science visit on a rotating basis to introduce the variety
of approaches in the field.
HSHM 620bu, Gender, Science, and Sexuality. William
Summers. T 9.30–11.20
This seminar is based on close readings and discussions
of pivotal primary sources in the history of scientific study
of sexuality and sex differences. These texts allow exploration
of a variety of scientific approaches and their claims to
cultural authority, as well as their role in constructing
and reinforcing normative gender roles and sexuality. Selected
secondary sources provide historical context as well as illustrate
various analytic strategies. Themes include the tension between
nature and culture in theories of sexuality, the construction
of heterosexuality and homosexuality, the role of scientific
studies in moral discourse, the rise of sexology as a scientific
discipline, and the changing ideas of what constitutes a “scientific”
approach.
[HSHM 622bu, Introduction to the History of Life Sciences.]
[HSHM 625au, Women and Medicine in America from the
Colonial Era to the Present.]
HSHM 630au, Age of the Gene. William Summers. T 3.30–5.20
An examination of the origins of the concept of the gene
and its changing meaning over the past century. Particular
attention is given to the role of gene as an abstract entity
in classical genetics and its identification with sequences
of DNA with the emergence of molecular biology. Readings include
classical primary texts and historical interpretations.
HSHM 631bu, The Cultures of Western Medicine: A Historical
Introduction. John Warner. MW 10.30–11.20
A survey of medical thought, practice, institutions,
and practitioners from classical antiquity through the present.
Changing concepts of health and disease in Europe and America
explored in their social, cultural, economic, scientific,
technological, and ethical contexts.
HSHM 637au, Race and Medicine in America, 1800–200o. Susan
Lederer. Th 1.30–3.20
An examination of race and medicine in America, primarily
but not exclusively focused on African Americans’ encounters
with the health care system. Topics include slavery and health;
doctors, immigrants, and epidemics; the Tuskegee Syphilis
Study and the use of minorities as research subjects; and
race and genetic disease.
[HSHM 642au, Plagues, Old and New.]
[HSHM 643au, Nuclear America.]
[HSHM 645bu, Medical Ethics in America since 1847.]
HSHM 676au, The Engineering and Ownership of Life. Daniel
Kevles. W 1.30–3.20
The development of biological knowledge and control in
relation to intellectual property rights in living organisms.
Topics include agribusiness, medicine, biotechnology, and
patent law. Also HIST 938au, LAW 20332.
[HSHM 677bu, Biology and Society in the Twentieth Century.]
HSHM 678au, Alcohol and Other Drugs in American Culture. David
Musto. TTh 10.30–11.20
The interrelation of alcohol and other drugs since the
establishment of the nation. Considerations of scientific,
religious, legal, literary, gender, and minority aspects.
HSHM 679bu , The Scientific Revolution. John
Heilbron. TTh 1.30–2.45
A survey of the natural science that developed between
the Age of Discovery and the French Revolution. The course
covers the background in Aristotelian philosophy; the shift
from geocentric to heliocentric astronomy; the replacement
of scholastic natural philosophy by the ideas of Galileo,
Descartes, and Newton; the roles of the Catholic and Protestant
churches, universities, and learned academies; the invention
and improvement of scientific instruments; and the science
of the Enlightenment. Also HIST 618bu.
[HSHM 680au, History of Chinese Science.]
[HSHM 711b, Experimentation in the History of Life Sciences.]
HSHM 712b, Science Around 1900. John Heilbron. W 1.30–3.20
At the turn of the twentieth century many scientists
and fellow travelers took stock of the accomplishments of
the “Century of Science” and tried to forecast
its future. The seminar takes this literature as its point
of departure. After some collaborative investigation of the
situation around 1900, each student picks a topic for further
study. The main product of our work will be a set of publishable
papers. Also HIST 929b.
[HSHM 714bu, Science and Technology in the Twentieth
Century.]
[HSHM 718, Performance, Identity, and the Making of
American Medicine.]
HSHM 719a, Readings in the History of American Medicine. John
Harley Warner. M 1.30–3.20
An examination of the variety of approaches to the social
and cultural history of medicine and public health, taking
as a focus nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Readings
are drawn from recent literature, sampling writings on health
care, illness, experiences, and medical cultures in the United
States. Topics include the role of gender, class, ethnicity,
race, region, and religion, in the experience of sickness
and health care: the multiple meanings of science in medicine,
the intersection of lay and professional understandings of
the body, and the role of the marketplace in shaping professional
identities and patient expectations. Also AMST 877a, HIST
932a.
HSHM 720b, Germ Theories, Spontaneous Generation, and
Origin of Life Debates, 1530–1953. William
Summers. Th 9.30–11.20
A study of major ideas relating to the origin of life,
spontaneous generation, contagion, infection, fermentation,
and the origins of biological molecules starting with Fracastoro’s
poem on syphilis and ending with the Miller-Urey experiments
on a biogenesis of amino acids. Readings are a mix of primary
documents and recent historical analyses.
HSHM 723a, Making the Modern Body. Susan Lederer.
T 9.30–11.20
An examination of the ways in which the human body in
the twentieth century has become both a site for medical and
surgical practices and a source of tissue and tools for research
and industry. Topics include the body in biomedicine, the
development and social impact of such technologies as cosmetic
and plastic surgery, organ transplantation, assisted reproduction,
and cloning; and the intersections of gender, race, and nation
in biomedicine. Also HIST 941a.
[HSHM 725a, History of Disease and Public Health in
Western Societies.]
HSHM 726b, Medicine, Public Health, and Colonialism,
1750–1950. Naomi Rogers. Th 1.30–3.20
A reading seminar on recent historical works dealing
with medicine, healing, public health, and body politics in
various colonial settings from 1750 to 1950, including Hong
Kong, India, the Phillippines, Mali, South Africa, Brazil,
Mexico, and regions in North America. Also HIST 934b.
HSHM 785a, Science and Technology in American Society. Daniel
Kevles. T 1.30–3.20
This course deals with both the growth of science and
technology in the United States and their integration into
the overall national narrative. Topics include the American
scientific community and its roles in exploration, agriculture,
industry, national defense, religion, culture, the environmental
movement, and social change. Also HIST 785a.
[HSHM 912a, Reading Seminar in the History of Disease
and Public Health in America.]
[HSHM 913b, Reading Seminar in the History of Life Sciences.]
HSHM 914a or b, Research Tutorial I.
By arrangement with faculty.
HSHM 915a or b, Research Tutorial II.
By arrangement with faculty.
[HSHM 919b, Research Seminar in the History of Medicine
and Science.]
HSHM 920a or b, Independent Reading.
By arrangement with faculty.
HSHM 930a or b, Independent Research.
By arrangement with faculty.
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