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Posted Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:50:33
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From: Francis Neary <[log in to unmask]>
-- Apologies for cross-posting. Please circulate to colleagues --
University of Cambridge DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
** Fifth Cambridge Wellcome Lecture in the History of Medicine **
On Thursday 3 December 2009 at 4.30pm
Angus McLaren (University of Victoria)
will speak on
Divorcing sex and reproduction: the discussion of artificial
insemination in Britain, 1918–1948
The lecture, which doubles as the last Departmental seminar of
Michaelmas Term, will start at 4.30pm in Seminar Room 2, Department of
History and Philosophy of Science, Free School Lane, Cambridge. There
will be tea from 4pm in Seminar Room 1, and a drinks reception there
after the lecture at 6pm.
At a workshop to be held the same day at 11.30am in Seminar Room 1,
Professor McLaren will introduce a discussion of 'A race of human
machines': robots and eugenics in inter-war Britain' The paper is
available by emailing: [log in to unmask]
If you would like to join us for dinner (and pay for yours) at 7pm, at a
local restaurant, please email [log in to unmask] by 2pm on
Tuesday 1 December.
Supported by the Wellcome Trust.
All welcome!
Lecture abstract: A 1922 trial marked the first time in history that a
common law court dealt with the subject of artificial insemination. Why
did the issue surface at this particular time? Seeking to provide some
answers directs our attention to the ways in which commentators in the
inter-war years attributed enormous social significance to a rarely
employed but simple form of medical treatment. In the early twentieth
century, just as the subject of birth control split the medical world
into radical and populist types in favour of such discussions and the
professional elite who were opposed, remarkably similar responses were
made to the issue of artificial insemination. Two additional points are
made by extending our investigation into the 1930s and 40s. The first,
which is hardly surprising, is that a procedure welcomed by some as a
remedy for the unhappily infertile was long regarded by others as posing
a threat to Christian morality, traditional gender relationships, and
the respectability of the medical profession. The second and more
unexpected finding is that such debates reveal the extent and tenacity
of eugenic notions in Britain. Both opponents and defenders of
artificial insemination argued that they were motivated by a desire to
improve the race.
Workshop abstract: In April, 1923 the play R.U.R. or Rossum's Universal
Robots by the Czech dramatist Karel Čapek was presented at St Martin's
Theatre. As a result, the term 'robot' entered the English language and
such humanoids were immediately hailed as icons of modernity. In the
inter-war period a host of commentators wrestled with the challenges
posed by such 'mechanical slaves'. Why such a fascination? Many of the
reasons are fairly obvious. For many in Britain, uncertain of the
benefits of mechanization, the mechanical man threatened to displace the
human worker. What is less obvious is that the robot story enjoyed added
resonance because it could also be read as a eugenicist parable. It is
no exaggeration to say that when the British were talking about
automatons they were consciously or not talking about the lower classes
and how they might best be controlled. Robot stories and eugenic
accounts told much the same tale. They both highlighted the promises and
threats posed by modernity. The harnessing of science and industry, they
argued, could lead to unparalleled progress, but if not directed by an
enlightened elite with the interests of the race at heart, the unleashed
forces of rationalization would cause disaster.
-------
Dr Francis Neary Department of History & Philosophy of Science
University of Cambridge Free School Lane Cambridge CB2 3RH
www.hps.cam.ac.uk
.
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