Atelier – Les archives du corps

What are the archives of the body? Can the body serve as an archive itself? What sources tell us the most about the body? This workshop, to be held at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge and sponsored by the Académie Nationale de Médecine, Paris, aims to bring together sholars to explore multiple types of evidence about human bodies in the medieval and early modern periods, in Europe, the New World and the Muslim and Jewish worlds. The sources examined might include: the archives of hospitals, universities and medical academies; civic, monastic, ecclesiastical and judicial records; iconographic sources, medical treatises and archaeological data.

An International Workshop to be held at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, 8–9 September 2011

What are the archives of the body? Can the body serve as an archive itself? What sources tell us the most about the body? This workshop, sponsored by the Académie Nationale de Médecine, Paris, aims to bring together historians, literary scholars, art historians and archaeologists to explore multiple types of evidence about human bodies in the medieval and early modern periods, in Europe, the New World and the Muslim and Jewish worlds.

The sources examined might include: the archives of hospitals, universities and medical academies; civic, monastic, ecclesiastical and judicial records; iconographic sources, medical treatises and archaeological data.

A keynote paper, ‘The Body in Pain and Tales of Election and Damnation during the French Wars of Religion’, will be presented by Dr Luc Racaut (School of Historical Studies, University of Newcastle).

Possible topics may include:

The holy body
Iconoclasm, corporal mortification
Medicine and diseased bodies
Anatomical knowledge and pathology
Gender, nudity and sexuality
Bodily difference and disability
The body as a commodity
Beauty and the ideal body
Senses, sensitivity and emotions
How to apply ?

Proposals for 20-minute papers are invited from

advanced scholars,
early career researchers and
doctoral students.
Paper abstracts no longer than 300 words, with a brief CV and full contact details, should be emailed to both

Dr Elma Brenner (ehob2@cam.ac.uk) and
Dr Elena Taddia (elena@earlymodernhistory.com)
by 31 May 2011.

The language of the workshop will be English.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their submission by 15 June 2011.

Comité scientifique :

Elma Brenner – Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
Elena Taddia – Docteur ès Lettres ENS –Lyon, Trinity College Research Fellow, Dublin
Luc Racaut, School of Historical Studies, University of Newcastle
Laurence Camous, directrice de la Bibliothèque de l’Académie Nationale de Médecine, Paris
Jérôme Van Wjiland, conservateur de la Bibliothèque de l’Académie Nationale de Médecine, Paris