History of medicine is a well established field of research in the History Department with two main areas of investigation: early modern medicine in Britain and Continental Europe and nineteenth-century politics of public health in Britain.
Silvia De Renzi and Ole Grell share an interest in early modern medical education and the construction of medical knowledge, an important component of which is the history of medical careers. Their common chronological focus—1550-1750—and their different geographical foci— Britain and Continental Europe—allow for an important comparative perspective. Among the topics of current research are the relationships between medicine, religion and natural philosophy and the political dimension of medical expertise, including physicians' contribution to discussions of witchcraft and the emergence of medical expert witnessing.
Deborah Brunton is currently researching the history of public health in nineteenth-century Scotland; she is interested in setting it in the broader context of civic growth and development.
Jane Berney is working on the contagious diseases ordinances in nineteenth-century Hong Kong (supervised by Deborah Brunton and Karl Hack) and Yvonne Fisher joined the group to work on the medicalization of the coroner's inquest in nineteenth-century Britain (supervised by Deborah Brunton and Silvia De Renzi).
Wide-ranging research in medical history is also carried out by the associated lecturers teaching the OU course Medicine and society in Europe 1500-1930. Follow this link for more details about associate lecturers' research interests.
A workshop entitled Religion, natural philosophy, and medicine in post-Reformation Scandinavia was held at the University of Copenhagen on 19 April 2013. The organisers were Ole Grell (Open University) and Carsten Selch Jensen (University of Copenhagen). The workshop programme is available online (PDF, 54 KB).
A third workshop, ‘Patients’ control or practitioners’ authority? Revisiting the early modern medical encounter’, was held on 4 July 2012 at The Open University in London. Further details and the workshop programme are available online.
The second workshop organised by the OU History of Medicine research group, 'Bodies for Knowledge: Perspectives on Anatomy, 1600-1900', was held at The Open University in London on 20 June 2011. Follow this link for the programme.
Healing sites, public health and medical therapies: research in the history of medicine at the OU was held at The Open University in London on 12 July 2010. Follow the link for the programme. The workshop was attended by both academics and ALs actively researching in the history of medicine. Follow this link for a list of participants.
For information about the history of medicine at the OU please contact Silvia De Renzi (s.de-renzi@open.ac.uk )
