Tag Archives: Montreal

Transcultural Psychiatry, Hysteria, and More!

A number of forthcoming articles, now available online, in History of Psychiatry may interest AHP readers. Titles, authors, and abstracts below.

“Eric Wittkower and the foundation of Montréal’s Transcultural Psychiatry Research Unit after World War II,” by Emmanuel Delille. Abstract:

Eric Wittkower founded McGill University’s Transcultural Psychiatry Unit in 1955. One year later, he started the first international newsletter in this academic field: Transcultural Psychiatry. However, at the beginning of his career Wittkower gave no signs that he would be interested in social sciences and psychiatry. This paper describes the historical context of the post-war period, when Wittkower founded the research unit in Montréal. I focus on the history of scientific networks and the circulation of knowledge, and particularly on the exchanges between the French- and English-speaking academic cultures in North America and Europe. Because the history of transcultural psychiatry is a transnational history par excellence, this leads necessarily to the question of the reception of this academic field abroad.

“The politics and practice of Thomas Adeoye Lambo: towards a post-colonial history of transcultural psychiatry,” by Matthew M Heaton. Abstract:

This article traces the career of Thomas Adeoye Lambo, the first European-trained psychiatrist of indigenous Nigerian (Yoruba) background and one of the key contributors to the international development of transcultural psychiatry from the 1950s to the 1980s. The focus on Lambo provides some political, cultural and geographical balance to the broader history of transcultural psychiatry by emphasizing the contributions to transcultural psychiatric knowledge that have emerged from a particular non-western context. At the same time, an examination of Lambo’s legacy allows historians to see the limitations of transcultural psychiatry’s influence over time. Ultimately, this article concludes that the history of transcultural psychiatry might have more to tell us about the politics of the ‘transcultural’ than the practice of ‘psychiatry’ in post-colonial contexts.

“Abrupt treatments of hysteria during World War I, 1914–18,” by AD (Sandy) Macleod. Abstract: Continue reading Transcultural Psychiatry, Hysteria, and More!

CFP: Joint Cheiron & ESHHS Conference

The Joint Conference of Cheiron (the International Society for the History of the Behavioral and Social Sciences) and the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences (ESHHS) has just released its call for papers. The societies will meet in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 18-22, 2012. The full call for papers follows below:

CFP: 2012 Joint Conference of Cheiron and the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences

Papers, posters, symposia/panels, or workshops are invited for the joint conference of Cheiron and ESHHS in Montreal 2012. The conference will be from July 18-22 at Dawson College.

Keynote speaker: Andrea Tone (McGill University)

Possible submissions may deal with any aspect of the history of the human, behavioral, and social sciences or related historiographical and methodological issues. All submissions should further conform to the length limitations listed below. Please include: a) title; b) author’s name and affiliation; c) author’s mail and email address and phone number; d) audio/visual needs.

All submissions must be received by February 1, 2012. Please email all submissions to cheiron.eshhs@gmail.com

Abstracts: Submit an abstract of 300-600 words plus references. All papers should be original, i.e. the main part of the work should not have been published or presented previously at other conferences. Presentations should be 20-25 minutes in length.

Posters: Submit a 300-400 word abstract (plus 300 word – maximum – reference list).

Symposia/Panels: Submit a 250-300 word abstract describing the symposium as a whole, and a 300-600 word abstract plus 300 word reference list from each of the participants. Include author name and affiliation for each participant in the symposium abstract.

Workshops: Please contact one of the program chairs, Michael Pettit (mpettit[at]yorku.ca) or Uljana Feest (feest[at]mail.tu-berlin.de), who will facilitate the exchange with the mutual program committee.

Travel Stipends for students and scholar from countries with weak currencies:
Available (ca. 100 – 300 CAD/Euros) per accepted submission through ESHHS and Cheiron. If you wish to be considered for a stipend, please send an additional e-mail to either of the program chairs below at the same time you submit your proposal.

Program committee:
Dennis Bryson, Uljana Feest (co-chair), Sharman Levinson, Barbara Lusk, Mike Pettit (co-chair), Larry Stern, Fred Weizman

Local arrangement:
Sam Parkovnick