Talking with the Dead: Narratives from The Old Anatomy Museum

Recorded 16 February 2023. A hybrid lecture by Evi Numen (TCD) as
part of the Medical and Health Humanities Seminar Series. Medical
museums begun their existence as galleries of wonder, a way to
celebrate God’s creations through collecting and publicly
accessible display. As medical knowledge and teaching developed,
medical collections moved from this quasi-religious domain to
establishments of scientific research and education out of the
public eye. The advent of modern imaging and other teaching
technologies pushed some of these difficult-to-upkeep collections
into obscurity altogether. In recent years, they are coming out of
the shadows, bringing with them some difficult questions and
inconvenient narratives, entwined as they are with stories and
practices of a colonialist past. Others complicate our
understanding of human diversity, ability, and consent, and invite
us to bridge the gap between specimen and visitor. This lecture
investigates that transition by tracing the past of the Old Anatomy
Museum and discussing its future. How did medical education
practices evolve from body snatching to body donation? What lessons
can we learn from a 200-year-old skeleton in a cabinet? What can an
illustration of a syphilis sufferer tell us about public health
today? These are some of the questions we are called upon to
grapple with, as we embark on a project to establish a medical
heritage centre around a collection that spans 300 years of medical
education in Ireland, and includes human remains, anatomical
models, medical illustrations, and striking portraits of patients
and physicians. Learn more at:
https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/