DOCSLIB.ORG

The Historical Emergence and Conceptual Context of Neuro-Art

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Historical Emergence and Conceptual Context of Neuro-Art Art and Neuroscience: The Historical Emergence and Conceptual Context of Neuro-Art by Carin Laura D’Souza A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy in Art History Approved Dissertation Committee: Prof. Dr. Paul Crowther, chair Prof. Dr. Claus Hilgetag Dr. Timothy Senior Prof. Dr. Robert Zwijnenberg Date of Defense: November 13, 2012 School of Humanities and Social Science, Jacobs University, Bremen i ii Abstract This study has developed on the premise that neuroscience has a significant impact on contemporary art, and on the observation that, from the dialogue with neuroscience, a new artistic tendency has been emerging. The aim of this research was therefore to investigate the roots, the emergence, and development of what I generically call neuro art. The main objective of the research was to initiate the history of neuro art. This history of neuro art investigates, for the first time, the relationship between neuroscience and contemporary practice of the visual arts by identifying and examining those artworks that rely on knowledge of the brain and the nervous system. The study begins with a broad analysis of the role neuroscience plays in contemporary culture. The analysis situates neuro art within the larger context of cultural interactions with neuroscience, defines neuro art, and frames the history of neuro art in relation with two other disciplines: neuroaesthetics and neuroarthistory. The core of the research addresses in detail the history of art objects about the brain and the nervous system. Setting the scene, the thesis first describes the earlier manifestations of neuro art and identifies its conceptual and historical roots. It further addresses the exhibitions of neuro art and it evaluates their role in the overall history of this phenomenon. The last, and most consistent part of this research is a detailed thematic analysis of the actual works of neuro art. The thesis concludes by providing explicit answers to the questions that have guided this research, and by confronting its initial assumptions with actual findings about neuro art. iii iv Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ iii Contents ............................................................................................................................................. v Preface ............................................................................................................................................. vii Introduction: What Neuro Art Is ............................................................................................... 1 Neuro Art within Neuroculture .............................................................................................................................. 3 Neuro Art: Towards a Definition ........................................................................................................................... 7 Art and Neuroscience ............................................................................................................................................... 10 Literature Review ....................................................................................................................................................... 17 The History of Neuro Art: Methodological Strategies ................................................................................. 21 The Limits of Neuroaesthetics and Neuroarthistory .................................................................................. 24 Neuroaesthetics ..................................................................................................................................................... 28 Neuroarthistory ..................................................................................................................................................... 45 Framing the History of Neuro Art .................................................................................................................. 49 Chapter I: Anticipating Neuro Art ........................................................................................... 53 Early Popularization of Neuroscience ............................................................................................................... 53 Art, Brain, and Computers ...................................................................................................................................... 59 Conceptual Art, Technology, and the Roots of Neuro Art ......................................................................... 64 Neuro Art in the 1980s ............................................................................................................................................. 71 Chapter II: Neuro Art – The First Major Exhibitions ........................................................ 77 Chapter III: Cellular Neuro Art – The Story of the Neuron in Art ................................. 99 Discovering the Brain Cell ...................................................................................................................................... 99 Cajal’s Revenge ......................................................................................................................................................... 105 Neuronal Forest ....................................................................................................................................................... 110 From Neuroabstractions to Synapses: Neurons, Synapses, Connections ....................................... 127 Chapter IV: Neuro Imaging Art – Visualizing the Brain ................................................ 139 Looking at the Brain ............................................................................................................................................... 139 The Sculpted Brain .................................................................................................................................................. 156 Neuro Art Portraiture ............................................................................................................................................ 163 Walking in the Brain ............................................................................................................................................... 201 Chapter V: Neuro Art between Systems and Behavioral Neuroscience .................. 207 Neuro Art and the Senses ..................................................................................................................................... 207 Neuro Art of Vision ................................................................................................................................................. 213 Emotions, Memory, and Sleep in Neuro Art ................................................................................................. 231 Chapter VI: Neurology and Neuro Art ................................................................................ 259 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 269 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 279 Illustration sources .................................................................................................................. 299 List of Artist’s Websites: ......................................................................................................... 311 List of Relevant Exhibitions ................................................................................................... 315 v vi Preface This research had as a starting point the small exhibition catalogue the Wellcome Trust and the Science Museum London launched along with the Head On: Art with the Brain in Mind exhibition in 2002. The exhibition invited artists to work with neuroscientists and commissioned art projects about the brain and the nervous system. As I found the exhibition absolutely fascinating, both in aesthetic and conceptual terms, I began to wonder if this dialog between art and neuroscience was an isolated occurrence or if there were other artistic ventures into the world of neuroscience. After little exploration it became apparent, not only that Head On was not a singular event of this kind, but also that, since 2002, an increasing number of artists, art historians, curators, and scientists manifested great interest in the interaction between the two fields. I began to suspect that a new artistic phenomenon was emerging from the collaboration between art and neuroscience, and I set out to verify this supposition. At the time this research was initiated in 2007, a large number of artworks, projects, and exhibitions that now make the object of this thesis did not yet exist. As the research was progressing, an increasing number of artists and curators displayed their own side of the art-and-neuroscience story. As I write these lines, in the spring of 2012, several exhibitions around the world, taking place almost concomitantly, are looking at the art-brain relationship.1 The rapid evolution of the phenomenon I was investigating made it difficult to contain the research within rigid parameters, and made a holistic perspective difficult. Consequently, this
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Welcome to the New Open Access Neurosci
    Editorial Welcome to the New Open Access NeuroSci Lucilla Parnetti 1,* , Jonathon Reay 2, Giuseppina Martella 3 , Rosario Francesco Donato 4 , Maurizio Memo 5, Ruth Morona 6, Frank Schubert 7 and Ana Adan 8,9 1 Centro Disturbi della Memoria, Laboratorio di Neurochimica Clinica, Clinica Neurologica, Università di Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy 2 Department of Psychology, Teesside University, Victoria, Victoria Rd, Middlesbrough TS3 6DR, UK; [email protected] 3 Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Plasticity, Fondazione Santa Lucia, and University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00143 Rome, Italy; [email protected] 4 Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy; [email protected] 5 Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy; [email protected] 6 Department of Cell Biology, School of Biology, University Complutense of Madrid, Av. Jose Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain; [email protected] 7 School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 2DY, UK; [email protected] 8 Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; [email protected] 9 Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 6 August 2020; Accepted: 17 August 2020; Published: 3 September 2020 Message from Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Dr. Lucilla Parnetti With sincere satisfaction and pride, I present to you the new journal, NeuroSci, for which I am pleased to serve as editor-in-chief. To date, the world of neurology has been rapidly advancing, NeuroSci is a cross-disciplinary, open-access journal that offers an opportunity for presentation of novel data in the field of neurology and covers a broad spectrum of areas including neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, clinical research and clinical trials, molecular and cellular neuroscience, neuropsychology, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, and computational neuroscience.
    [Show full text]
  • Contemporary Art Society Annual Report 1993
    THE CONTEMPORARY ART SOCIETY The Annual General Meeting of the Contemporary Art Society will be held on Wednesday 7 September, 1994 at ITN, 200 Gray's Inn Road, London wcix 8xz, at 6.30pm. Agenda 1. To receive and adopt the report of the committee and the accounts for the year ended 31 December 1993, together with the auditors' report. 2. To reappoint Neville Russell as auditors of the Society in accordance with section 384 (1) of the Companies Act 1985 and to authorise the committee to determine their remunera­ tion for the coming year. 3. To elect to the committee Robert Hopper and Jim Moyes who have been duly nominated. The retiring members are Penelope Govett and Christina Smith. In addition Marina Vaizey and Julian Treuherz have tendered their resignation. 4. Any other business. By order of the committee GEORGE YATES-MERCER Company Secretary 15 August 1994 Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in London N0.255486, Charities Registration No.2081 y8 The Contemporary Art Society Annual Report & Accounts 1993 PATRON I • REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother PRESIDENT Nancy Balfour OBE The Committee present their report and the financial of activities and the year end financial position were VICE PRESIDENTS statements for the year ended 31 December 1993. satisfactory and the Committee expect that the present The Lord Croft level of activity will be sustained for the foreseeable future. Edward Dawe STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE'S RESPONSIBILITIES Caryl Hubbard CBE Company law requires the committee to prepare financial RESULTS The Lord McAlpine of West Green statements for each financial year which give a true and The results of the Society for the year ended The Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover KG fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the 31 December 1993 are set out in the financial statements on Pauline Vogelpoel MBE profit or loss of the company for that period.
    [Show full text]
  • The Creation of Neuroscience
    The Creation of Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience and the Quest for Disciplinary Unity 1969-1995 Introduction rom the molecular biology of a single neuron to the breathtakingly complex circuitry of the entire human nervous system, our understanding of the brain and how it works has undergone radical F changes over the past century. These advances have brought us tantalizingly closer to genu- inely mechanistic and scientifically rigorous explanations of how the brain’s roughly 100 billion neurons, interacting through trillions of synaptic connections, function both as single units and as larger ensem- bles. The professional field of neuroscience, in keeping pace with these important scientific develop- ments, has dramatically reshaped the organization of biological sciences across the globe over the last 50 years. Much like physics during its dominant era in the 1950s and 1960s, neuroscience has become the leading scientific discipline with regard to funding, numbers of scientists, and numbers of trainees. Furthermore, neuroscience as fact, explanation, and myth has just as dramatically redrawn our cultural landscape and redefined how Western popular culture understands who we are as individuals. In the 1950s, especially in the United States, Freud and his successors stood at the center of all cultural expla- nations for psychological suffering. In the new millennium, we perceive such suffering as erupting no longer from a repressed unconscious but, instead, from a pathophysiology rooted in and caused by brain abnormalities and dysfunctions. Indeed, the normal as well as the pathological have become thoroughly neurobiological in the last several decades. In the process, entirely new vistas have opened up in fields ranging from neuroeconomics and neurophilosophy to consumer products, as exemplified by an entire line of soft drinks advertised as offering “neuro” benefits.
    [Show full text]
  • For Immediate Release Contact: Jonathon [email protected] ARTIST CREATES NEW UNIVERSE from URANIUM and CHEWING GUM Novel Technique
    For Immediate Release Contact: [email protected] ARTIST CREATES NEW UNIVERSE FROM URANIUM AND CHEWING GUM Novel Technique Puts Quantum Theory to Practical Use. Automated Universe Factories Planned for Government and Industry. San Francisco Gallery to Begin Selling $20 D.I.Y. Universe Kits on November 20th. Universes Provide Alternatives to Recession October 31, 2008 - Following decades of effort by engineers to build quantum supercomputers and to master quantum cryptography, today quantum physics has spawned a far more powerful technology. Applying theory developed by deceased Princeton physicist Hugh Everett III, and using little more than a piece of chewing gum, a plastic drinking straw, and a bit of uranium, San Francisco conceptual artist Jonathon Keats has constructed the first machine for fabricating all-inclusive universes. "It was a product of my anxiety," admits Mr. Keats. "I'd recently had a couple museum shows, yet I was feeling that no matter what I made, it was hardly comparable to the creation of the cosmos. And though no one talks about it, the same issue faced Picasso, Monet, even Michelangelo. The Big Bang has artists beat." Taking on the cosmos as a creative challenge, Mr. Keats began researching an aspect of quantum mechanics proposed by Dr. Everett in the 1950s and later refined by scientists including David Deutsch at Oxford and Wojciech Zurek at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Everett's theory addressed the question of how a subatomic particle can exist in a quantum superposition - for example being in two places at once - until someone observes it, at which point the observer finds it to be in only one place at a time.
    [Show full text]
  • Programme: 2014-2015
    Programme: 2014-2015 Exhibitions David Tremlett 3 Drawing Rooms 4 December 2013 – 21 April 2014 David Tremlett (b. 1945) is best known for his large-scale site-specific wall drawings of geometric arrangements: abstract compositions of arcs, circles, trapezoids, text and line. Using pastel pigment applied by hand, Tremlett makes these compositions directly on architectural surfaces. They are orchestrated to shift the viewer’s comprehension of a built environment, opening out, expanding and reducing, creating new vistas, geometric rhythms and pauses. While at once being formally constructed compositions of purely abstract elements which emanate the sensual joy of colour, and illustrate relationships between straight and curved lines, they speak too of things experienced, seen and done by the artist. Jamal Penjweny 19 February – 21 April 2014 An exhibition of work by emerging artist Jamal Penjweny from Iraqi Kursdistan, including a number of photographic series that are as poignant and smart as they are formally straightforward. Saddam is Here consists of twelve images of Iraqi people in familiar surroundings, each holding a life-size picture of Saddam Hussein’s face in front of their own. Saddam’s likeness becomes a mask obscuring any expression of emotion, any gaze, or possibility of sure identification and individuality. It is ludicrous, hilarious and at the same time absolutely ominous, pointing up the insidious influence of a dictator. Another Life, a short film by Penjweny, follows some days in the lives of Iraqis smuggling alcohol from Iraq into Iran. It has the grainy appeal of covert cell phone footage, and is very matter-of-fact in its editing.
    [Show full text]
  • Download CV (PDF)
    Anuradha Vikram anu(at)curativeprojects(dot)net About Anuradha (Curative Projects) Independent curator and scholar working with museums, galleries, journals, and websites to develop original curatorial work including exhibitions, public programs, and artist-driven publications. Consultant for strategic planning, institutional vision, content strategy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion work. Current engagements include Craft Contemporary, LA Freewaves, MhZ Curationist, LACE, X-TRA, X Artists’ Books, and UCLA Art Sci Center. Education M.A., Curatorial Practice, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA, 2005 B.S., Studio Art, minor in Art History, New York University, New York, NY, 1997 Curated Exhibitions, Performances, and Public Art 2024 ▪ Co-curator, Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption (with Victoria Vesna), UCLA Art Sci Center at Center for Art of Performance, Getty Pacific Standard Time: Art x Science x LA, dates TBC. 2023 ▪ Unmaking/Unmarking: Archival Poetics and Decolonial Monuments, LACE, Los Angeles, dates TBC. 2022 ▪ Jaishri Abichandani: Lotus-Headed Children, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, January 30–May 8. ▪ Exa(men)ing Masculinities, with Marcus Kuiland-Nazario and Anne Bray, LA Freewaves, Los Angeles State Historic Park, dates TBC. 2021 ▪ Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption, Ars Electronica 2021 Garden, September 8-12. ▪ Juror, FRESH 2021, SoLA Contemporary. August 28-October 9. 2020 ▪ Patty Chang: Milk Debt, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA, October 19-January 22, 2021. Traveled to PioneerWorks, Brooklyn, March 19-May 23, 2021. ▪ Co-curator, Drive-By-Art (with Warren Neidich, Renee Petropoulos, and Michael Slenske). Citywide exhibition, Los Angeles, May 23-31.
    [Show full text]
  • Джоð½ Зоñ€Ð½ Ð​лÐ
    Джон Зорн ÐÐ​ »Ð±ÑƒÐ¼ ÑÐ​ ¿Ð¸ÑÑ​ ŠÐº (Ð ´Ð¸ÑÐ​ ºÐ¾Ð³Ñ€Ð°Ñ„иÑÑ​ ‚а & график) The Big Gundown https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/the-big-gundown-849633/songs Spy vs Spy https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/spy-vs-spy-249882/songs Buck Jam Tonic https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/buck-jam-tonic-2927453/songs https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/six-litanies-for-heliogabalus- Six Litanies for Heliogabalus 3485596/songs Late Works https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/late-works-3218450/songs https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/templars%3A-in-sacred-blood- Templars: In Sacred Blood 3493947/songs https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/moonchild%3A-songs-without-words- Moonchild: Songs Without Words 3323574/songs The Crucible https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/the-crucible-966286/songs Ipsissimus https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/ipsissimus-3154239/songs The Concealed https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/the-concealed-1825565/songs Spillane https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/spillane-847460/songs Mount Analogue https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/mount-analogue-3326006/songs Locus Solus https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/locus-solus-3257777/songs https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/at-the-gates-of-paradise- At the Gates of Paradise 2868730/songs Ganryu Island https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/ganryu-island-3095196/songs The Mysteries https://bg.listvote.com/lists/music/albums/the-mysteries-15077054/songs A Vision in Blakelight
    [Show full text]
  • Glutamatergic Synaptic Plasticity in the Mesocorticolimbic System in Addiction
    REVIEW ARTICLE published: 20 January 2015 CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE doi: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00466 Glutamatergic synaptic plasticity in the mesocorticolimbic system in addiction Aile N. van Huijstee and Huibert D. Mansvelder * Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Edited by: Addictive drugs remodel the brain’s reward circuitry, the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) Arianna Maffei, SUNY Stony Brook, system, by inducing widespread adaptations of glutamatergic synapses. This drug-induced USA synaptic plasticity is thought to contribute to both the development and the persistence Reviewed by: Christian Luscher, Geneva of addiction. This review highlights the synaptic modifications that are induced by in vivo University Hospital, University of exposure to addictive drugs and describes how these drug-induced synaptic changes may Geneva, Switzerland contribute to the different components of addictive behavior, such as compulsive drug Fereshteh S. Nugent, Uniformed use despite negative consequences and relapse. Initially, exposure to an addictive drug Services University, USA induces synaptic changes in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). This drug-induced synaptic *Correspondence: Huibert D. Mansvelder, Department potentiation in the VTA subsequently triggers synaptic changes in downstream areas of of Integrative Neurophysiology, the mesocorticolimbic system, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the prefrontal Center
    [Show full text]
  • Michael M. Merzenich
    Michael M. Merzenich BORN: Lebanon, Oregon May 15, 1942 EDUCATION: Public Schools, Lebanon, Oregon (1924–1935) University of Portland (Oregon), B.S. (1965) Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D. (1968) University of Wisconsin Postdoctoral Fellow (1968–1971) APPOINTMENTS: Assistant and Associate Professor, University of California at San Francisco (1971–1980) Francis A. Sooy Professor, University of California at San Francisco (1981–2008) President and CEO, Scientifi c Learning Corporation (1995–1996) Chief Scientifi c Offi cer, Scientifi c Learning Corporation (1996–2003) Chief Scientifi c Offi cer, Posit Science Corporation (2004–present) President and CEO, Brain Plasticity Institute (2008–present) HONORS AND AWARDS (SELECTED): Cortical Discoverer Prize, Cajal Club (1994) IPSEN Prize (Paris, 1997) Zotterman Prize (Stockholm, 1998) Craik Prize (Cambridge, 1998) National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. (1999) Lashley Award, American Philosophical Society (1999) Thomas Edison Prize (Menlo Park, NJ, 2000) American Psychological Society Distinguished Scientifi c Contribution Award (2001) Zülch Prize, Max-Planck Society (2002) Genius Award, Cure Autism Now (2002) Purkinje Medal, Czech Academy (2003) Neurotechnologist of the Year (2006) Institute of Medicine (2008) Michael M. Merzenich has conducted studies defi ning the functional organization of the auditory and somatosensory nervous systems. Initial models of a commercially successful cochlear implant (now distributed by Boston Scientifi c) were developed in his laboratory. Seminal research on cortical plasticity conducted in his laboratory contributed to our current understanding of the phenomenology of brain plasticity across the human lifetime. Merzenich extended this research into the commercial world by co-founding three brain plasticity-based therapeutic software companies (Scientifi c Learning, Posit Science, and Brain Plasticity Institute).
    [Show full text]
  • Journeys of the Beat Generation
    My Witness Is the Empty Sky: Journeys of the Beat Generation Christelle Davis MA Writing (by thesis) 2006 Certificate of Authorship/Originality I certify that the work in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree nor has it been submitted as part of requirements for a degree except as fully acknowledged within the text. I also certify that the thesis has been written by me. Any help that I have received in my research work and the preparation of the thesis itself has been acknowledged. In addition, I certify that all the information sources and literature used are indicated in the thesis. Signature of Candidate 11 Acknowledgements A big thank you to Tony Mitchell for reading everything and coping with my disorganised and rushed state. I'm very appreciative of the Kerouac Conference in Lowell for letting me attend and providing such a unique forum. Thank you to Buster Burk, Gerald Nicosia and the many other Beat scholars who provided some very entertaining e­ mails and opinions. A big slobbering kiss to all my beautiful friends for letting me crash on couches all over the world and always ringing, e­ mailing or visiting just when I'm about to explode. Thanks Andre for making me buy that first copy of On the Road. Thank you Tim for the cups of tea and hugs. I'm very grateful to Mum and Dad for trying to make everything as easy as possible. And words or poems are not enough for my brother Simon for those silly months in Italy and turning up at that conference, even if you didn't bother to wear shoes.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution and Executive Functions: Why Our Toolboxes Are Empty
    Revista Española de Neuropsicología 4, 4:351-377 (2002) Copyright© 2002 de REN ISSN: 1139-9872 Evolution and executive functions: Why our toolboxes are empty Roy Sugarman PhD Royal Adelaide Hospital: Glenside Campus Dept of Psychiatry, Adelaide University Abstract: Despite the recent findings with regard to our origins as human primates, we still struggle to find tools that evaluate executive functioning adequately and reliably. Despite some evidence of ecological validity, our toolboxes remain largely empty. With regard to how we produce common behaviours by using individually distinct, multiple areas of focus, each brain is individual. In a sense, not many complex, human, behaviours follow a normal distribution. This work traces the probable origins of executive functioning in humans in a social context, defining in passing the nature of human self-regulation. A discussion follows which integrates these ideas within a second order, cybernetic neuroepistemology of human thought and emotion, and questions the logical paradox of assuming that isolated cortical areas such as the frontal lobes generate executive functions in a linear progression. A brief exploration follows with regard to the nature of human consciousness, and the difficulties in measuring such a homeostatic mechanism as executive function. Using alcohol related brain changes, and cross-cultural issues as exemplars, an attempt is made to define a neuroepistemology for understanding the dynamic interplay between executive function and consciousness. Key words: Brain´s Evolution, executive functioning. Evolución y funciones ejecutivas: por qué nuestras cajas de herramientas estan vacías Resumen: A pesar de los recientes hallazgos en relación a nuestros orígenes como humanos primates, aún luchamos para encontrar instrumentos que evalúen el funcionamiento ejecutivo adecuadamente y de manera fiable.
    [Show full text]
  • 1930 Heather Mcintyre Thesis Subm
    “Man’s Redemption of Man”: Medical Authority and Faith Healers in North America, 1850 - 1930 Heather McIntyre Thesis submitted to the University of Ottawa in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in History Department of History Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Heather McIntyre, Ottawa, Canada, 2020 ii ABSTRACT “Man’s Redemption of Man”: Medical Authority and Faith Healers in North America, 1850 – 1930 Heather McIntyre Supervisor: University of Ottawa, 2020 Heather Murray This thesis discusses the various rhetorical, logical, and legal methods the medical profession used to regulate faith healing in North America. In so doing, it illuminates larger questions about the place of religion and authority over the body in modernity. It uses a source base of medical journals, legal documents, and church records to illustrate how doctors positioned themselves as the rational and godly choice for sick people. While faith healing was originally one of many “cures” and kinds of medicine available to North Americans during the 19th century, the medical field rapidly professionalized and supported laws requiring anyone claiming to practice medicine to adhere to one form of scientifically- based medicine. To support this change, physicians used the category of “quackery,” which implies backwardness and superstition, to illustrate the hazards of faith healing and other alternative medicines. Later, the rise of psychology in the 1890s reshaped physicians’ view of faith healing, and they came to explain its claims of success by arguing that “suggestion,” or messages to a person’s unconscious beliefs, can cure particular (gendered) kinds of mental illnesses. Doctors and clergy became curious about the safe use of suggestion, and embarked on experiments like the Emmanuel Movement.
    [Show full text]