HHH summer meeting 2025: Sensing the History of Medicine
On Monday 30 June, HHH members met in the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam for our meeting “Sensing the History of Medicine.” This meeting was organised in conjunction with the HHH/Huizinga Summer School “Sensing the History of Medicine: Sources, Methods, and Results.” This meant that the audience consisted of a mix of summerschool students and teachers, and HHH members. The aim of this afternoon was to explore how the senses have shaped medical history, through lecture, film, and discussion.
HHH summer event – Keynote & Filmscreening on Sensing the History of Medicine
Jonathan Reinarz (University of Birmingham) kicked off the afternoon with a keynote lecture titled “Seeking the Novel in the Familiar: Exploring the Senses in the History of Medicine and Health.” During his talk he provided an overview of various themes in sensory history. He talked about re-examining primary sources focusing on the sensory perceptions included in them, such as the ego documents of Florence Nightingale. A clear example where the sense of smell plays a leading role is the history of public health, which often focuses on ‘dirt’, relating to living environments and inner cities. Reinarz also discussed the Pavlov experiments and explained how the building used for these tests was carefully designed to avoid overstimulating the animals’ senses. The lecture concluded with several examples from the history of missionary medicine and women’s health. The key takeaway was that the senses are tools for understanding the world, and studying their history shows how they can have a real impact not just in the past, but also today.
The lecture was followed by the announcement of the Stichting Zuster Vernède Thesis Award. The winning thesis was written by Marlies Couch: “She procured a couple of Chirurgions”: unearthing social and medical care for survivors of sexual violence from the Old Bailey Proceedings, 1674-1800. The thesis investigates early modern rape cases in England, focusing not on witness testimonies or convictions, but on the care provided to the victims. The jury praised her in-depth research, fresh perspectives, and also that her thesis is very clearly and accessibly written. Marlies couldn’t be there in person but had prepared a video where she explained the scope of her research and thanked Stichting Zuster Vernède for the award.
After the award ceremony it was time to move to a cinema hall for the screening of the 2011 soft sci-fi romantic drama Perfect Sense. The film was introduced by Arjan Nuijten, who talked about his motivations for choosing this specific movie. The film depicts a global pandemic in which people lose their senses one by one, while a love story unfolds. With the Covid pandemic still fresh in mind, the film provided a thoughtful perspective on the role of the senses during a crisis.
After a brief exchange of experiences of watching this movie, the thought-provoking afternoon concluded with drinks, offering everyone a chance to connect and reflect. We hope that attendees enjoyed the afternoon and we invite all our members to join us for our next meeting in October 2025.