On Friday 8th December , Professor Jonathan Reinarz, Director of The History of Medicine Unit & Professor of the History of Medicine, came in to talk to GCSE History students about the History of Medicine and Burns, a topic which students have studied over the course of their GCSE. He was accompanied by Julia Hyland, a talented make-up artist .
By using Moulage/Medical effects make-up she was able to realistically recreate and represent a variety of medical conditions for the purpose of education, the practice of which, dates to at least the Renaissance, when wax figures were used for this purpose.
Jonathan has published extensively on the history of hospitals and medical education, including a history of the Birmingham teaching hospitals (Boydell, 2009) and with Graham Mooney (Johns Hopkins), a history of hospital and asylum visiting (2009). He has recently completed a history of smell (University of Illinois Press, 2014), and an edited collection on medical scandals (with Rebecca Wynter), entitled Complaints, Controversies and Grievances in Medicine (Routledge, 2015).
Jonathan discussed case studies such as smallpox, cholera and even the Black Death. It was an enlightening and engaging experience looking at not only the physical appearance of the disease, but also the social context of people living during this period. Pictures speak a thousand words and students were eager to be plastered with the diseases as you can see in the below images.
A final plea from Jonathan and Julia was to actually “wear” the disease once they had left school in order to understand how society tends to look at facial disfigurements and other disease. Their work is not only academic but applicable to real life as they work to break down stereotypes and stigmas which society can sadly place upon those impacted by burns, diseases and much more.
It was a fantastic experience which students enjoyed and will remember! We thank Jonathan and Julia for taking time out of their busy schedules (with Jonathan off to Japan for four months in the New Year to study atomic burns) and look forward to our next visit from the University of Birmingham History department early next year!
Mr Hobbis
