Issue No.49, March 1995 (ISSN 0158 9040)

Edited by Tim Sherratt on behalf of AAHPSSS.

Playing Doctor - Two Linked Day Schools on Medicine and Film

Presented by the Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney.

Saturday 9 and 23 September 1995, 10-5pm, Mills Building, University of Sydney.

Starting with Georges Melies' pioneering film Le Chirurgien americain (1897), there have been many hundreds of feature films depicting physicians and nurses, mad-doctors and lunatics, hospitals and patients. Before the lasso and the revolver ever appeared, the stethoscope was a familiar icon on the silver screen, used by the heroic 'man in white' but sometimes the sign of a more malign presence. The range of cinematic depictions of doctors and doctoring, and of issues relating to health and illness is vast and fascinating, but has been surprisingly little studied.

In these two dayschools, we shall be examining a range of Hollywood films to see what they have to teach us about shifting attitudes to the medical profession, about the power of images, and about the use of film material in social and cultural history. We shall be viewing samples from many movies, some rare, and screening several at full length on the big screen. Speakers for the dayschools include Mr Tom Politis, a well-known film historian and President of the WEA Film Study Group, and Dr Michael Shortland, author of Medicine and Film. Historians of medicine and any interested in film and social and cultural history will find the dayschools of interest. Those attending will receive reading packs and detailed guides to further research in the area.

The dayschools are sponsored by the NSW Society for the History of Medicine. Places are limited and early registration is encouraged.

For further details and a registration form, please contact:

Ms Shari Lee
Unit HPS F07
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY NSW 2006
Tel: +61 2 9351 4226
Fax: +61 2 9351 4124