Seminar 4 of 13 on 09/19/17- Quack medicine: selling hope for profit and glory

Mr. Montgomery will explore the history of quack medicine and how the intersection of science, culture and health fears presents unscrupulous healers opportunities for profit and glory. He will define quackery and review examples from the 18th century to early 20th. Mr. Montgomery will define quackery and review its history in relation to the rise of the scientific method and advances in medicine. His talk will include a rogues gallery of quacks, as well as tonics, pseudo-scientific gizmos, and shocking devices in the archive.

Target Audience

Medical humanities scholars, physicians, nurses, social workers, public health/health science students and other professionals in public health related disciplines, as well those interested from the general public.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to (1) understand the concept of quack medicine in an historical context by examine artifacts and related health claims and (2) examine how the intersection of science and culture fosters opportunities for individuals to exploit health-related fears for profit and personal aggrandizement.

Presenting for this session is:

Philip Lee Montgomery, MLIS is the head of the Texas Medical Center Library's McGovern Historical Center and is responsible for rare medical books dating back to 1490 and manuscripts from the mid-18th century. He received his MLIS from the University of North Texas. He worked as an archivist and special collections librarian at Rice University's Woodson Research Center before taking his current position. For the past seven years, Mr. Montgomery has worked with archivists and graduate students in Japan to improve access to medical-studies of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He is also responsible for a large collection of quack medical device and related material.

Welcome to Season Two: Poisons, Plagues, Potions and Portrayals
from 08/29/17 - 11/29/17 on Tuesdays at The Health Museum

The History and Culture of Disease and Healing seminar series identifies the overlap between disciplines in health and humanities, and applies lessons in humanities to public health practice in a global and cross cultural context.

“There is increasing emphasis on bringing more of the humanities into the education of health professionals, in a way that is appealing to all the health disciplines. This course seeks to do just that,” says George Delclos, MD, MPH, PhD, professor at the UTHealth School of Public Health and one of the course instructors.

There are 13 seminars in this series. Each unique seminar has been chosen for its relevance to the contributions of the humanities to contemporary understanding or approaches to disease and healing as we conceptualize from cultural/artistic/literary depictions and historical lessons the relationship between human behaviors and disease and healing.

This is also a humanities course offered to professionals and students in the fields of medicine and health. Seminar attendance will include registered students from Rice University and the UTHealth School of Public Health. The unique collaborative format of this seminar demonstrates shared values between institutions of higher learning and the professional/academic training offered to specialties.

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