A History of War in Five Bodies

On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, I’ll be giving a talk called “A History of War in Five Bodies” at the New York Academy of Medicine.

https://nyam.org/events/event/history-american-war-five-bodies/

Venue

The New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, New York, NY 10029

Cost

$12 General Public | $8 Friends, Fellows, Members, Seniors | Free to Students with ID

 

At first glance, the history of American warfare can often appear strangely devoid of flesh and blood. Prior to the 1960s, Hollywood shied away from graphic war wounds, and military propaganda continues to downplay war’s relentless consumption of life and limb. According to Professor John M. Kinder, however, injured bodies deserve to be moved from the margins to the center of the American war story. In this talk, Kinder explores the history of American war through the bodies of five disabled veterans. What emerges is a portrait of nation struggling (and often failing) to mitigate the human cost of military conflict.

About the Speaker

John M. Kinder is Associate Professor of History and American Studies at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of Paying with Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran (University of Chicago Press, 2015). He is currently completing a book on the history of zoos during World War II.

EVENT SERIES:
Legacies of War: Medical Innovations and Impacts
The profound physical and mental destruction left in the wake of war has by necessity accelerated innovation in medicine that often led to benefits for society as a whole. The conditions of war have brought advances in surgical care, prosthetics, blood banking, antibiotics and trauma care. This series commemorates the American entry into World War I in 1917 by exploring the often-intertwined history of conflict and medical innovation, as well as the devastating and ongoing impact of war on the minds and bodies of soldiers and civilian populations.

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