Library Special Collections Blog
History of Medicine work-in-progress (May 16): “Blind in Palestine: Stories of Treating Trachoma”
UCLA History of Medicine and Medical Humanities Research Forum is a series which provides opportunities for faculty, students, staff, and visiting researchers to present recent work or unfinished work-in-progress in an informal, presentation-and-discussion format. Programs are held at lunchtime (sandwiches provided to those who make reservations), one or more Fridays per quarter during the academic year, in the Rare Book Room on the 4th floor of the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. The next program, on Friday, May 16, at 12:00 noon, will be a presentation by Anat Mooreville (PhD candidate in History, UCLA Department of History) on “Blind in Palestine: Stories of Treating Trachoma.” Abstract: Trachoma was a major public health threat in Palestine during the first half of the twentieth century, with upwards of thirty percent of Jews and seventy percent of Arabs afflicted at the start of the British Mandate. Trachoma was doubly marked: first, as a disease of poor hygiene and primitive culture owing to its particular etiology; and second, as a “blinding scourge of the East,” as a result of regional endemicity. The American-sponsored Hadassah Medical Organization conducted an intensive “war against trachoma” starting in 1918 by employing one or two "traveling oculists" to conduct periodic trachoma checks in school children throughout the Yishuv. I comb the reports of the “traveling oculist” to elucidate how the campaign operated and was refashioned over a twenty-year period, and how the anti-trachoma campaign served to create a visual and medical distinction between Jews and the Orient in a time of nationalist development. However, fierce physician competition meant that not all eye doctors could find work in the Jewish sector. I analyze multiple first-person narratives of ophthalmologists' experiences in private practice—an arena often missing in the archives—that document how physicians sought out or fell into establishing practices for Arab patients. Looking at both experiences reveals how trachoma was a platform for multiple models of interactions with the East, and how eye doctors also functioned as ethnographers, hygienists, and pioneers. Box lunches (or buffet of various salads) are provided to attendees who reserve a seat by noon on the previous Monday (in this case, May 12th); coffee and water will be available; attendees should bring their own other beverages. Reservations received after that time will not have lunch orders (please be advised that we require reservations because we must submit a list of confirmed attendees when placing our food order). Seating is limited and is not guaranteed without a reservation. Reservations may be made by contacting History and Special Collections for the Sciences (voice: 310.825.6940; email: speccoll-medsci@library.ucla.edu). We can accommodate up to 40 attendees. We are looking forward to seeing some familiar as well as new faces at this and upcoming programs, and welcome feedback and recommendations. The UCLA History of Medicine and Medical Humanities Research Forum (this is the 18th meeting) is made possible by the Program in Social Studies in Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and by History & Special Collections for the Sciences, UCLA Library Special Collections.
Upcoming programs:
Looping Genomes: Diagnostic Expansion and the Genetic Makeup of the Autism Population Monday, 2 June 2014 at 4:00 pm Gil Eyal, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University This meeting is additionally co-sponsored by the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Program in the UCLA Department of History. Making LSD a Psychotomimetic in Los Angeles, 1950s-1960s Friday, 6 June 2014 at 12:30 pm Rob Schraff, PhD candidate in History
Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections Blog
Archives
- November 2022 (1)
- October 2022 (2)
- September 2022 (2)
- August 2022 (1)
- May 2022 (2)
- December 2021 (1)
- November 2021 (2)
- October 2021 (2)
- September 2021 (2)
- August 2021 (1)
- April 2021 (5)
- March 2021 (1)
- December 2020 (1)
- September 2020 (1)
- August 2020 (1)
- May 2020 (2)
- April 2020 (2)
- January 2020 (3)
- September 2019 (2)
- August 2019 (3)
- July 2019 (2)
- April 2019 (2)
- March 2019 (1)
- December 2018 (4)
- October 2018 (2)
- May 2018 (1)
- March 2018 (2)
- October 2017 (1)
- September 2017 (1)
- June 2017 (3)
- May 2017 (5)
- April 2017 (2)
- March 2017 (1)
- February 2017 (2)
- January 2017 (2)
- December 2016 (3)
- November 2016 (2)
- October 2016 (2)
- September 2016 (1)
- July 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (1)
- April 2016 (1)
- December 2015 (3)
- November 2015 (3)
- October 2015 (1)
- September 2015 (2)
- July 2015 (1)
- June 2015 (5)
- May 2015 (4)
- April 2015 (5)
- March 2015 (6)
- February 2015 (7)
- January 2015 (2)
- December 2014 (3)
- November 2014 (3)
- October 2014 (2)
- September 2014 (3)
- August 2014 (6)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (2)
- May 2014 (3)
- April 2014 (7)
- March 2014 (2)
- February 2014 (5)
- January 2014 (2)
- November 2013 (3)
- October 2013 (6)
- September 2013 (4)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (2)
- June 2013 (5)
- May 2013 (5)
- April 2013 (3)
- March 2013 (3)
- February 2013 (3)
- January 2013 (1)
- December 2012 (3)
- November 2012 (2)
- October 2012 (2)
- September 2012 (3)
- August 2012 (3)
- July 2012 (2)
- June 2012 (4)
- May 2012 (2)
- April 2012 (5)
- March 2012 (1)
- February 2012 (5)
- January 2012 (6)
- November 2011 (3)
- October 2011 (4)
- July 2011 (1)
- April 2011 (1)
- March 2011 (1)
- December 2010 (1)
- October 2010 (1)