Old Email Archive

digest 2002-07-15 #003.txt

litsci-l-digest         Monday, July 15 2002         Volume 01 : Number
012



In this issue:

     RE: lit AND sci; lit OF sci; lit OR sci, lit sci

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Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 11:46:26 -0600
From: "Michael WUTZ" 
Subject: RE: lit AND sci; lit OF sci; lit OR sci, lit sci

Hi Roger - - 

I would recommend E. L. Doctorow's THE WATERWORKS (1994), which raises
a whole host of contemporary scientific/medical issues in the figure of
Dr. Wrede Sartorius, a post-bellum medical genius who, arguable, steps
beyond the bounds of ethical behavior.  It's a crime/mystery/detective
story and may, for that reason along, sit well with your students.

All the best,

Michael Wutz

>>> Roger Persell  07/15/02 10:33AM
>>>
May I add a similar question:  does anyone have suggestions for an
American
literary work that incorporates a look at illness and/or medicine as a
pivotal part of the work?  The constraint is that we (a social
historian and
I) want only American works.  Yes, Arrowsmith is an obvious choice. 
Frank
Herbert's The White Plague is an intriguing take on some of the social
dimensions of several topics:  Catholic-Protestant politics in
Ireland,
American biotechnology, and the feminization of the ill, as was done
with
the original White Plague, tuberculosis.  (Herbert takes the
feminization of
the ill to an unprecedented extreme.)  We are not  looking specifically
for
novelizations of the life of Clara Barton or Margaret Sanger, but if
something is out there that's good, it could be interesting.  There's
no
lack of works from Europe, but we're teaching an interdisciplinary
course in
American Medicine from (circa) 1800-2000 and want to stick with
American
themes.

Thanks,

Roger Persell


Roger Persell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Hunter College
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY  10021
(212) 772-4106


> ----------
> From:     benjamin r cohen
> Sent:     Monday, July 15, 2002 8:10 AM
> To:     litsci-l@duke.edu 
> Subject:     lit AND sci; lit OF sci; lit OR sci, lit sci
> 
> lots of books that deal with science as a subject.  [novels]
> lots of books that discuss what science is.  [science studies
litertaure]
> lots of books that discuss relations of science and humanities (art,
> literature, poetry, etc.) [in science studies literature and in
fiction]
> 
> what's a good book of fiction (novel, short stories) that provides
> commentary on what science is that isn't frankenstein and isn't brave
new
> world?  (appropriate for an undergrad intro course)
> 
> your suggestions?
> thanks for any help,
> ben
> 
> 
> 
> -
> +-+-+-+-+-+
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> links and unsubscribing info:
> http://www.law.duke.edu/sls 
> 
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