 Programs in Medical Classics
2006-2007
UCLA Programs in Medical Classics is a series of presentations
designed to enhance an appreciation of the links among famous
medical writings, clinical practice, basic research,
and humanistic scholarship. These
meetings bring together a convivial group of individuals of
scholarly tastes--both from the community and from UCLA faculty,
students, and staff--for a lecture and an
opportunity to discuss and examine texts and topics that embody the history of medicine,
as well as the relations of medicine to broader cultural settings.
There is no charge for the lectures. Evening programs convene at 6:00 pm in
the UCLA Faculty Center and will be followed by wine and softdrinks,
conversation, and an opportunity to examine rare books and other items pertaining to each lecture.
An optional dinner with the speakers, at $22 per person, will take place in the
Faculty Center about 7:30 pm. An advance reservation is required for dinner; reservations
may be made by calling (310) 825-6940.
Other programs meet as indicated.
Programs for 2006-2007
Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 4:00 p.m.
4th Floor and Rare Book Room, Louise Darling Biomedical Library
Biomed Collects!
Newly Acquired Rare Books, Manuscripts and Artifacts
History & Special Collections Staff
An exhibit and Open House reception, with brief comments and lots of refreshments.
Your RSVP is required to insure sufficient food and beverages (and to comply with university policy,
which requires a list of guests or attendees when refreshments are served).
Printable PDF version of Biomed Collects! announcement and invitation
Printable PDF version of map to Parking Lot 2 and the Biomedical Library
* * *
Monday, 11 December 2006, 6:00 p.m.
UCLA Faculty Center
Testimony for Public Health: the Journey of One of History's Witnesses
into the World of Toxic Torts and into the Crosshairs of
Corporate Lawyers
David Rosner, Ph.D.
Professor of History and of Public Health, Columbia University
Introduction by Jennifer L. Mnookin, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
What happens when historical research turns up damning evidence about the
health-endangering activities of polluting industries? What can the scholar or
scientist expect when his or her work ends up in court? In this talk, Professor David Rosner
will speak about the reactions of the plastics and lead industries to his and
Gerald Markowitz' book, Deceit and Denial: Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution
(University of California Press/Milbank Fund). This is both a cautionary tale
for the academic as well as an example of how industries seek to avoid responsibility for their past actions.
For more of a preview, see: www.deceitanddenial.org
(DeceitandDenial.org: A Reply to the Chemical Industry's Attacks).
Printable PDF version of December 2006 announcement
Classic Reading: J. Lockhart Gibson's "A plea for
painted railings and painted walls
of rooms as the source of lead poisoning amongst Queensland children" (1903)
Markowitz and Rosner's book is available online
(click here) as a University of
California Press eScholarship Edition,
published by eScholarship, part of
the California Digital Library.
* * *
Tuesday, 23 January 2007, 6:00 p.m.
UCLA Faculty Center
Message in a Bottle: The Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Janet Golden, Ph.D.
Professor of History, Rutgers University
Introduction by Mary J. O'Connor, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA; and Director,
UCLA Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Clinic
The incidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in the United States is about 1 in 500 births.
Babies born with alcohol-related birth defects weigh less and are shorter than other babies.
They may have malformed facial features, arms and legs, and suffer from poor coordination,
and memory and learning difficulties. But most have normal intelligence. Dr. Golden’s
talk will present a brief history of the modern discovery of alcohol-related birth defects
and the ways that medical, public health, media, and legal professionals shaped our
understanding of this phenomenon.
Printable PDF version of January 2007 announcement
January 2007 classic reading number 1
(use the free Science Direct link through any UCLA login or at UCLA Library workstation)
Kenneth L. Jones, David W. Smith, Christy N. Ulleland and Ann Pytkowicz Streissguth
"Patterns of malformation in offspring of chronic alcoholic mothers"
The Lancet, v. 301, issue 7815, 9 June 1973, pp. 1267-1271
(doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(73)91291-9)
January 2007 classic reading number 2:
(use the free Science Direct link through any UCLA login or at UCLA Library workstation)
Kenneth L. Jones and David W. Smith
"Recognition of the fetal alcohol syndrome in early infancy"
The Lancet, v. 301, issue 7836, 3 November 1973, pp. 999-1001
(doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(73)91092-1)
* * *
Thursday, 15 February 2007, 6:00 p.m.
UCLA Faculty Center
"Powder and Lipstick Were on Just So":
The Ideal Woman, Perceptions of Labor Pain, and
the Use of Obstetric Anesthesia
Jacqueline Wolf, Ph.D.
Professor of Social Medicine, Ohio University
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Introduction by Mary Terrall, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History, UCLA
Friday, 16 February 2007, 1:00 p.m.
OB/GYN Grand Rounds
24-132 Center for the Health Sciences
(Morton Lecture Room)
From Ether to Epidural:
Obstetric Anesthesia in Social Context
Jacqueline Wolf, Ph.D.
Professor of Social Medicine, Ohio University
College of Osteopathic Medicine
In the 1970s the lay press celebrated natural childbirth as invigorating
and transforming. Today attitudes are starkly different: newspapers
and magazines ridicule natural childbirth as “an extreme sport” and
urge women to opt for an epidural. How do medical and social approaches
to labor change so radically in one generation? In these talks, Professor
Wolf will examine the history of medical and social views of labor pain and
corresponding changes in the use of obstetric anesthesia and link those
changes to broad contemporary social concerns and the cultural
perception of women.
Printable PDF version of February 2007 announcement
February 15th and 16th lectures are CANCELLED because
a blizzard prevents the speaker from leaving Ohio. Dr. Wolf's programs will be
rescheduled in the 2007-2008 season.
* * *
Thursday, 12 April 2007, 6:00 p.m.
UCLA Faculty Center
Snapping Muscle, Hidden Neuron: Nervous Diseases
in the Middle Ages
Walton O. Schalick, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Washington
University, St. Louis
Introduction by Dora Weiner, Ph.D.
Professor of the Medical Humanities and of History, UCLA
Until recently, the nature of disabilities in the Middle Ages has largely been opaque.
Scholars are now questioning the place of disability in medieval society and
the role of different conditions in medical and social frameworks. This evening’s
talk will explore several medieval ‘neurological’ conditions with an eye toward
understanding how med-icine shaped and was shaped by medieval disabilities.
Printable PDF version of April 2007 announcement
Friday, 13 April 2007, 8:00 a.m.
Pediatrics Grand Rounds
A2-342 Marion Davies Children's Center
"And the Weak Shall Inherit the Earth":
Pediatric Health and Public Policy in America
Walton O. Schalick, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Washington
University, St. Louis
Children have been a cornerstone of health policy for centuries. Certain
populations of children, in particular those with disabilities, have
both altered and been altered by governmental mandates. This Grand
Rounds will describe the growth of policy toward children with physical
disabilities in the first half of the 20th century with attention both
to its roots in European policies and its impact on the 2nd half of the
century and beyond.
Printable PDF version of April 2007 announcement
* * *
Monday, 21 May 2007, 4:00 p.m.
UCLA Faculty Center
Trussed in Evidence: Is There One Best Way to Evaluate Psychotropic Drugs?
David Healy, M.D., FRCPsych
Professor of Psychological Medicine, University of Cardiff
Introduction by Theodore Porter, Ph.D.
Professor of History, UCLA
Dr. Healy’s lecture considers the evidence from randomized controlled
trials of psychotropic agents as applied in recent history to the
practice of psychiatry in both mental health and primary care settings.
He will illustrate how one interpretation of clinical trial data,
which uses data of marginal significance as evidence that treatments
are effective, is currently dominant, and explain why this is
arguably not the correct interpretation and definitely not the
only possible interpretation. An alternate interpretation points
to treatment effects rather than effectiveness. The implications
of this dominant interpretation are drawn out for academic journals,
drug development, and patient treatment in medicine today.
Printable PDF version of May 2007 announcement
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