Description:

The Master of Arts in Medical Humanities & Bioethics Program

Presents

A Montgomery Lecture

With

Wendy Kline, PhD
Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana

The Purpose of the Pelvic: A Historical Analysis

Ever since the introduction of the pelvic exam as a gynecological procedure in the late nineteenth century, consumers and doctors have struggled to define the boundaries between preventive health and sexual impropriety.  In the early twentieth century, for example, cancer awareness programs were stymied by the failure of the press to print particular words deemed “inappropriate,” such as “uterus, cervix, discharge, bloody, or menses.” And despite the emergence of second wave feminism in the 1970s, discomfort around discussing female sex organs remains a major problem, even leading to a congresswoman getting banned from speaking on the House floor after using the term “vagina” in 2012. This shaming of women’s reproductive anatomy takes a toll on all women, who have picked up the cue that they, too, should remain silent about their bodies. Researchers have documented the impact this silencing has had on women’s care, including a lack of basic anatomical knowledge and the importance of routine gynecological care. In a 2017 US study, for example, only about half of women surveyed about cervical cancer screening felt they knew the purpose of the routine pelvic exam. This talk suggests that the pelvic exam is more than just a medical procedure; it is a window into a deeper, more meaningful set of questions about gender, medicine, and power.  From gynecological research on enslaved women’s bodies to practice on anesthetized patients, the pelvic exam as we know it today carries the burden of its history.  By looking through that window, we can begin to understand why the pelvic exam remains both mysterious and contentious.  

This lecture will be held in-person for Northwestern students, faculty, and staff—in the Searle Seminar Room in the Lurie Research Building (303 E Superior). Chicago Campus. For those outside the Northwestern community and anyone who would prefer to attend remotely, the Zoom option will continue to be available.

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Description:

The Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program

Presents

A Montgomery Lecture

With

Mark Sheldon, PhD
Distinguished Senior Lecturer Emeritus
Department of Philosophy, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty in the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

A Defense of Physician Facilitated Death

Physicians do engage in activities that facilitate patients’ deaths. The claim that is made is that these activities are different from what is called physician-assisted suicide. Are they? What distinctions are offered to differentiate such activities, and do the distinctions hold? What practices, which facilitate dying, are morally and professionally acceptable? This talk will consider the way in which thought on this issue developed in this country, and compare it to the Netherlands, France, and Canada. Professor Sheldon will also sketch his own views about where we should go in the future. Also, the beginning of the talk will briefly describe the way our ideas about death and its place in our existence have evolved.

In-person attendance is open to the Northwestern Community: Searle Seminar Room in the Lurie Research Building (303 East Superior Street, Chicago Campus). Zoom attendance is open to all (registration required.

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Description:

The Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program

Presents

A Montgomery Lecture

With

J. Minjy Kang, MD, MA
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Associate Program Director of Ophthalmology Residency
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Semiotics in Medicine

This talk is about how the study of signs can help us frame clinical interactions and interpretation in medicine.

In-person attendance is open to the Northwestern Community: Searle Seminar Room in the Lurie Research Building (303 East Superior Street, Chicago Campus). Zoom attendance is open to all (registration required.

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Description:

The Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program

Presents in Co-Sponsorship With

Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR)

Association of Native American Medical Students (ANAMS)

A Special Montgomery Lecture:
The Carlos Montezuma Annual Native Health Lecture

Beatriz O. Reyes, MPH, DrPH
Assistant Professor of Instruction, Global Health Studies Program
Affiliate, Center for Native American and Indigenous Research
Northwestern University

Indigenous People Navigating Healthcare in a Dystopian Society

What do (coerced) treaty rights and tribal sovereignty have to do with healthcare professionals and instructors in a big city like Chicago? How do you provide optimal healthcare when you don’t know what you don’t know about Native people? Native citizens in what is currently the US navigate a checkerboard healthcare system and a settler society established with the goal of assimilation. Often these social determinants of health are not considered when training healthcare professionals or when providing healthcare to Native folks.

This presentation is the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Montgomery Lecture Series’ second annual Carlos Montezuma Native Health Lecture, which is named in honor of the first Native American graduate of Northwestern University’s medical school.

In-person attendance is open to the Northwestern Community: Searle Seminar Room in the Lurie Research Building, 303 East Superior Street, Chicago Campus. Zoom attendance is open to all--registration required.

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Description:

The Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program

Presents

A Montgomery Lecture

With

Jennifer Young, PhD
Assistant Professor
Center for Genetic Medicine
Department of Medical Social Sciences
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Mind the Gap:
How do multiracial individuals fit into health research?

The number of people in the United States who identify with more than one racial category has more than doubled in the past decade. Multiracial individuals present methodological and definitional challenges to researchers and clinicians aiming to address racial health disparities. This talk will review discrepancies when measuring variables such as race, ethnicity, and ancestry in genomics research, and present recommendations for the inclusion of multiracial individuals in a just and equitable framework.

In-person attendance is open to the Northwestern Community: Searle Seminar Room in the Lurie Research Building (303 East Superior Street, Chicago Campus). Zoom attendance is open to all (registration required.

** PLEASE REGISTER TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK**
REGISTER HERE

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