idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Since the end of World War II, the Nazi past has been a topic of ambivalent debates and references within German and international medicine: attempts to say what happened, claims for lessons to be learned from, but also sometimes just reports (i.e. about processes) or even merely silence. Some parts of the German medical profession, for instance, perceived the confrontation with Nazi medical atrocities as an attack, whereas others saw it as the starting point for fundamental reconsiderations of the ethical and epistemological presuppositions of medical research and practice. In confrontation with this past, there developed varying narratives through the different periods of post-war German and international history, some of which had a stabilizing function for the identity of the profession, some others a critical and de-stabilizing function. In addition, in today's international debates in the field of medical ethics, there are frequent references to Nazi medical atrocities, in particular in the context of debates about research on human subjects, but also to some extent in discussions on euthanasia, and more. However, a closer look at these references shows that there are remarkable differences between various national discourses, and also - in particular in the non-German contexts - between the topics of human subjects research and euthanasia regarding the extent and depth in which the Nazi past is referred to.
The modes of remembering and interpreting Nazi medicine, their historicity and instrumentalization in different stages of post-war German medicine, and in the international discourse on biomedical ethics are the topic of this conference, which is part of a research project "Medical Narratives on National socialist 'euthanasia': Professional identities and ethics between politics of memory and historiography, ca. 1945 - 2000" in the context of the Coordinated Research Program "Cultures of Memory" (Sonderforschungsbereich "Erinnerungskulturen") located at the University of Giessen.
The conference will focus the following aspects and dimensions of the general topic:
* conceptual issues and changing historiographies;
* collective memories of professional medical organizations;
* legal proceedings and related narratives;
* social movements in Germany and the Nazi past;
* the Nuremberg Medical Trial, its reception, and its legacies for Medical Ethics.
The conference will be concluded by a round-table discussion with representatives of German medical organizations on issues of remembrance, memorials, and public apologies.
Organisation: Prof. Dr. Volker Roelcke, Director and Chair Institute of the History of Medicine, University of Giessen, Germany
Primäres Ziel der Tagung ist es, die Formen der Bezugnahme auf die NS-"Euthanasie" in der Nachkriegs-Medizin und Bioethik zusammenzutragen und die verschiedenen Formen der Interpretation für die aktuelle Medizin und Bioethik zur Debatte zu stellen.
Für eine breitere Öffentlichkeit von besonderem Interesse ist der letzte Tag der Tagung: Hier sind nach einem Eröffnungsvortrag von Prof. Claus Leggewie (Essen) zum Thema "The Politics of Memory" Repräsentanten der deutschen Ärzteschaft (Bundesärztekammer, relevante medizinische Fachgesellschaften, Deutscher Ethikrat) sowie von Betroffenen-Organisationen eingeladen, sich zur Bedeutung der Medizin im Nationalsozialismus, mit besonderem Fokus auf die "Euthanasie", für die aktuelle Medizin zu äußern.
Vertreter der Medien sind eingeladen, an der Tagung teilzunehmen.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
11/12/2008 17:00 - 11/15/2008 12:30
Event venue:
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Senatssaal
Ludwigstr. 23
35390 Gießen
Hessen
Germany
Target group:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Email address:
Relevance:
international
Subject areas:
History / archaeology, Medicine, Social studies
Types of events:
Entry:
10/15/2008
Sender/author:
Lisa Dittrich
Department:
Referat für Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Event is free:
no
Language of the text:
German
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event24951
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
