On November 11, 2024 at 18:00 c.t. the second session of the lecture series “Hands-on. Research Perspectives on Collections”, organized by the Coordination Office for Scientific Collections in Germany, will take place:
Vom Tasten zum Sehen. Eine Objektgeschichte der geburtshilflichen Untersuchung
Prof. Dr. Karen Nolte (Universität Heidelberg)
When male doctors in Germany entered the female-dominated field of obstetrics, they had to come to terms with their own and women’s modesty with regard to genital examinations. They initially restricted the obstetric examination to morally acceptable and thoroughly learned touches. The lecture will examine how male obstetricians dealt with female modesty and how this was manifested in obstetrical objects. Based on an object-related analysis of specula vaginae and cervix models from the 18th and 19th centuries in the German obstetric collections in Würzburg and Göttingen, it will be shown how obstetric examinations and thus the objects themselves changed historically in form and function over the course of the 19th century. The specula developed from the tubular speculum, which allowed a limited view of the female genitalia, to the beak-shaped and two-part speculum, with which the vagina could be spread wide open. The establishment of the medical gaze in obstetric examinations reflects the emergence of the scientific concept of objectivity around 1850.
The lecture will be held in German.
Participation is possible without pre-registration and is free for all interested parties!
Organisers:
Sarah Elena Link and Gesa Grimme
Coordination Centre for Scientific Collections in Germany
Time and Place:
The event takes place on Monday November, 25, 2024 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Kurssaal, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Campus Nord, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Afterwards, there will be an opportunity to network and exchange ideas over a small drink.
There is also the possibility to join the event via Zoom.
