Event Description
The incorporation of elements of non-Western medicine by biomedical institutions in the United States has been called complementary, integrative, or “alternative” medicine. But to offer acupuncture, yoga, or herbal medicine within a biomedical clinic is a radically different context from those in which these therapeutic practices were first developed.
This lecture will explore the long histories of these traditions, their transformation through colonialism, and the plural approach of several “people’s medicine” initiatives, including the Black Panthers. The history and philosophy of science can help us understand the epistemological and political choices behind the inclusion of certain practices, and not others, within “alternative” or “integrative” medicine today.
Event Speaker
Shireen Hamza, Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University
Event Information
Free and open to the public; registration required.
Hosted by the Science History Institute.
