The History of the Psychological Disciplines Seminar Series, organized by the British Psychological Society’s History of Psychology Centre, in conjunction with UCL’s Centre for the History of the Psychological Disciplines, has just announced a new talk. The event will take place in London on June 5th. Full event details, including the presentation abstract, follow below.

Date: Wednesday 5 June 2013

Location: South Wing G12 Council Room, UCL

Speaker: Dr Jelena Martinovic (Institut Universitaire d’Histoire de la Médecine et de la Santé Publique, University of Lausanne)

Seminar title: Psychiatry and Near Death (1960–1970)

Abstract: The presentation discusses the factors explaining the emergence of the near-death experience (NDE) as a research topic in the United States. The study of a key actor, the psychiatrist Russell Noyes, helps to demonstrate how the experience of near-death became clinically relevant through the work of psychiatrists and psychologists, and more generally to retrace the academic foundations of research on death during the 1960s and 1970s. Central to the presentation is the methodological question concerning the use of a research biography as a vector for historical analysis.