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Social History of American Medicine: The History of Human Experimentation

Instructor: Professor David J. Rothman
Fall Semester, 2004

This seminar is designed to introduce graduate students to the social history of medicine through an in-depth analysis of one vital activity: human experimentation in Europe and the United States. This focus will enable us to explore in greater depth the complex relationships between society and medicine.

Requirements for the seminar include reading and intensive class discussion. Students will also submit a paper, which need not be based on primary sources. It may constitute a discerning review of the literature addressing a particular theme or incident.

The few books that have been ordered for the course are marked with an asterisk. Copies of all the readings will be available in the Bremner Reader Room in Fayerweather Hall and in the Hammer Library on 168th street. Students who wish background readings in the general history of medicine may consult Robert E. Hudson, Disease and its Control, or Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind.

  Course Syllabus, Fall Semester 2004 (PDF, 37K)