The eightieth annual meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 3–6 May 2007 at the Sheraton Centre Hotel. The following summary has been prepared by the Secretary-Treasurer, Todd L. Savitt, and is intended for the information of the members of the Association. The official minutes and reports are preserved in the office of the Secretary.
Program
Thursday, 3 May
AAHM Council Meeting
Opening Reception
Special Session: Canadian Persuasion: A National Film Board of Canada Retrospective
David Cantor, organizer
Friday, 4 May
Welcome and Introduction: John Parascandola, presiding
Plenary Session: Earth, Animals, and Health; or, How Places and Animals Affect How We Think about Medical History
Science and the Somatic Experience of Early American Earthquakes
Conevery Bolton Valenčius [End Page 625]
Ecological and Evolutionary Modeling in the History of Infectious Disease
Susan D. Jones
Concurrent Sessions
Session A1: Western Medicine in an African Context, Myron Echenberg, moderator
Madness and Colonialism in Saint-Louis-du-Senegal, 1880–1914
Kalala J. Ngalamulume
Sumaya, Konon, and Translations of "Malaria" in French Soudan, 1900–1960
Tamara Giles-Vernick
Indications for Use of Transfusion in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1945–2000
William H. Schneider
Session A2: The Classical Tradition, Gary B. Ferngren, moderator
When the Doctor Went to the Bedside of His Patients in Antiquity: False Statements, Lies, Errors, Cowardice, and Simulations
Robert Alessi
Stuttering in Aristotle's Mind (paper read by Gary Ferngren)
Alisdair G. G. Gibson
The Nature of Poison, Circa 1400
Frederick W. Gibbs
Session A3: The History of Death, Elizabeth Watkins, moderator
"I Have Done It and I Have Got to Die": Coroners' Inquests of Abortion Deaths
Simone M. Caron
Standardization of the Supply Chain from Dying to Disposal: Public Regulation, Professions, and Competition Dynamics
Pascale Trompette and Dominique Vinck
"Dead Man Knocking": Issues Surrounding Medical Certification of Death in Scotland, c. 1893–1860
Gayle Davis
Session A4: The Bare Facts about Sleep-Walking, Ronald L. Numbers, moderator
"A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body": American Nudism, Liberal Protestantism, and Obscenity, 1929–1940
Brian Scott Hoffman [End Page 626]
Itching for Attention: Athlete's Foot and British Medical Researchers
Aya Homei
Insomnia as a Biomedical Problem
Kenton Kroker
Lunch Sessions
The Canadian Persuasion: The Film Board of Canada and the Post-WWII Health Education Film
David Cantor
History in the Post-Genomic Era: New Perspectives on Health, Disease, and Medicine
Guenter Risse, with Margaret Humphreys
Digitizing Medical History: Some Digital Projects at Major History of Medicine Collections in the United States and Europe
Chair: Michael J. North
Participants: Guy Cobolet and Dave Thompson
Concurrent Sessions
Session B1: The Changing Role of Touch, Ann G. Carmichael, moderator
"Le toucher": Changing Representations of Digital Manipulation in French Obstetrical Treatises, 1550–1800
Lianne McTavish
Looking and Touching in French Legal Medicine, 1500–1800
Cathy McClive
Touch as a Diagnostic Tool in the Writings of an Ordinary Italian Surgeon (1702–1714)
Sandra Cavallo
Session B2: Patient–Physician Ethics in Germany, 1600–1900, Jonathon Erlen, moderator
Incurable Disease and the Physician–Patient Relationship in the Early Nineteenth Century: Samuel Hahnemann and His Patients
Bettina Brockmeyer
Palliative Treatment and Active Euthanasia before 1800
Michael Stolberg
Age of Medical Paternalism? Reflections on Medical Disclosure and Patient Consent in the Nineteenth Century
Karen Nolte [End Page 627]
Session B3: China and Japan in Transition, Marta E. Hanson, moderator
How Modernity Combined with Cultural Tradition to Perpetuate Beriberi: Japanese Medical Officers in the Late Nineteenth Century
Roberto Ramon Padilla II
Habituate Individuality: Framing Tuberculosis and Its Material Solutions in Republican China
Sean Hsiang-lin Lei
The Role of Chinese Assistants in Western Medical Practice in Nineteenth-Century China
Shang-Jen Li
Session B4: The Flexner Report and Its Aftermath, Constance Putnam, moderator
Flexner and the AMA: A Shared Agenda for Medical Reform?
Lynn E. Miller and Richard M. Weiss
The Evolution of...