The Intersections of Colonialism and Medicine in East Asia

March 9-10, 2018 at the University of Pittsburgh

Sponsors: Asian Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh, National Shimane University, Peking University, Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica

This conference intends to investigate the intersection between colonial and traditional medical practices in East Asia across the long 20th century (1895-2000). It is primarily concerned with the disruption caused by the entrance of colonialism and its attendant medical practices. The arrival of western colonialism brought with it missionary groups, hospitals, and new forms of medicine in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. In addition to medical science, public health practices introduced new ways of policing and controlling populations. Medical Training also underwent significant changes, as governments altered and created new education systems. We are especially interested in examining how local practitioners and providers responded to the new body of knowledge represented by western medicine, and how medical practitioners incorporated and/or resisted western practices and methods of treatment across East Asia. Additionally, traditional practices of East Asian Medicine in Korea, China, and Japan have different characteristics.  How did they interact with western biomedicine?  The conference papers will address these themes:

• Missionary medicine
• Colonial medicine
• Intersections of western and traditional medicine and medical practices
• Medical education
• Public health movements and campaigns
• Health trends
• Family planning, population, eugenics, and reproductive health
• War and medicine (war and health)
• Folk medicine
• Soviet Medicine in the early PRC
• Medical diplomacy
• Patent medicines, materia medica, and pharmaceutical production and marketing
• Medical technology
• Medical terminology and translation

We plan to publish selected papers in a special edition of an academic journal in Chinese, Japanese, and English.  Please provide a 1-2 page abstract and a recent C.V. by July 1, 2017 to Prof. Tina Philips-Johnson at tina.johnson@stvincent.edu. Applicants will be notified of acceptance within 30 days.  Conference lodging, meals, and airport transfer will be covered by the conference organizers. A limited number of airfare stipends will be available for junior faculty and advanced graduate students.  Please direct any questions to Tina Philips-Johnson.