Online Seminar Series 2020-2021
Organised by
Maria Gerolemou (University of Exeter, UK) / George Kazantzidis (University of Patras, Greece)
Contact: M.Gerolemou@exeter.ac.uk / gkazantzidis@upatras.gr
About this series
COVID-19 has affected our lives tremendously; it reminded us – more than any other recent event in history – of how vulnerable and exposed we are to what Susan Sontag calls the ‘onerous citizenship’ of illness, which everyone would be happy to renounce. The pandemic also changed the way we communicate and interact as an academic community of classicists, ancient historians and archaeologists.
The present series of online seminars, dedicated to exploring crucial aspects of medicine and technology in the ancient world, aspires to create a virtual space of dialogue for all those interested in the sciences of antiquity. Our aim is to revisit ancient notions of health and illness, human ingenuity and craftsmanship, and to ponder how others before us have wrestled with the grim reality of disease but also how they have used technê to make their lives better—or at least more endurable.
The series consists of 12 talks which will be held via Zoom. You can register by clicking on the title of each talk.
All talks will be recorded and made available to the registrants.
Schedule
29 September 2020, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Introduction to ancient Greek automata
Theodosis P. Tasios (Academy of Athens). Respondent: Tatiana Bur (University of Cambridge)
26 October 2020, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Aristotelian science and Hippocratic gynaecology
Sophia Connell (Birkbeck, University of London). Respondent: Elisa Groff (University of Exeter)
27 November 2020, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Archytas’ dove in context: An investigation of the non-human agency between paradoxography, encyclopedism, and mechanics in the ancient world
Marco Vespa (University of Fribourg/ ERC AdG Locus Ludi #741520). Respondent: Isabel Ruffell (University of Glasgow)
17 December 2020, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Technology and Disability
Christian Laes (University of Manchester). Respondent: Jane Draycott (University of Glasgow)
28 January 2021, 17:00 p.m. (UK time)
Genos between phusis and technê
Emanuela Bianchi (New York University). Respondent: Gabriele Galluzzo (University of Exeter)
25 February 2021, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Mercury in late antique and medical sources: practice and theory
Matteo Martelli (University of Bologna). Respondent: David Leith (University of Exeter)
22 March 2021, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Ancient cabinet of curiosities
Véronique Dasen (University of Fribourg/ ERC AdG Locus Ludi #741520). Respondent: Dunstan Lowe (University of Kent)
15 April 2021, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Medicine in ancient Cyprus: the archaeological evidence
Demetres Michaelides (University of Cyprus). Respondent: Daniel King (University of Exeter)
3 May 2021, 17:00 p.m. (UK time)
Copper and human health in the Chalcolithic, the classical, and the age of COVID
Julie Laskaris (University of Richmond). Respondent: Colin Webster (UC Davis)
25 May 2021, 17:00 p.m. (UK time)
The Roman physician and the knowledge of the patient
Lauren Caldwell (UMass Amherst). Respondent: Chiara Blanco (University of Oxford)
24 June 2021, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Navigating between abstraction and observation: using astrolabes, globes and mirrors in the medieval Mediterranean
Divna Manolova (Centre for Medieval Literature, University of York and University of Southern Denmark). Respondent: Karen ní Mheallaigh (Johns Hopkins University)
8 July 2021, 16:00 p.m. (UK time)
Nutrition in ancient medicine
John Wilkins (University of Exeter). Respondent: Laurence Totelin (Cardiff University)
Hosted by the University of Exeter
Credits
Cover: Gear photo by Pete Linforth from Pixabay / Poster: Hand painted wood engraving of artificial/mechanical hand. Both from Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Ancient Medicine & Technology 