By Gabriel Redel-Traub There is something eerie about walking into the Folk Art Museum’s posthumous portraiture exhibit. The last line of the introductory panel to the exhibit reads: “We cannot help but hear them whisper ‘remember me.'” This sentiment rings true. The exhibit is split into three rooms and filled with portraits of apparently posthumous subjects. I say apparently, because to a 21st century viewer, nothing in these portraits would indicate that the subjects were dead at the time they [read more]
Category: Current Topics
States of Grace: From Doctor to Patient and Back Again
Katie Grogan, DMH, MA and Tamara Prevatt, MA, Master Scholars Program in Humanistic Medicine, NYU School of Medicine Before the accident, Dr. Grace Dammann was a caregiver through and through, in every aspect of her life. A pioneering AIDS specialist, she co-founded one of the first HIV/AIDS clinics for socioeconomically disadvantaged patients in San Francisco at Laguna Honda Hospital. She was honored by the Dalai Lama with an Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award for her service and devotion to [read more]
NYU Center for Humanities Event Imagining Illness: Pulitzer Prize Winners on Truth and Fact in Narrative David Oshinsky and Paul Harding
By J. Russell Teagarden On a recent winter’s evening, Pulitzer Prize winners David Oshinsky and Paul Harding appeared together at the NYU Center for Humanities in an event cosponsored by the NYU Division of Medical Humanities and the Bellevue Literary Press. Erika Goldman, the publisher and editorial director of the Bellevue Literary Press, moderated the session. Jane Tylus, faculty director of the NYU Center for Humanities, provided opening and closing remarks. The evening also had support from the Pulitzer Prize [read more]
Cortney Davis - When the Nurse Becomes a Patient: A Story in Words and Images
NYU Langone Medical Center welcomed author/painter Cortney Davis to the Smilow gallery for the opening of “When the Nurse Becomes a Patient.” Laura Ferguson’s interview with Ms. Davis appears here. Exhibition presented at the NYU Langone Medical Center Art Gallery by the Art Program and Collection. Photo: Art Program and Collection.
The Vaccine Project
An interview with Philip Cawkwell, MS4, NYU School of Medicine, Rudin Fellow 2014-15 By: Katie Grogan, DMH, Associate Director, Master Scholars Program in Humanistic Medicine Assistance from Tamara Prevatt, Intern, Master Scholars Program in Humanistic Medicine The Rudin Fellowship in Medical Ethics and Humanities supports medical trainees at NYU School of Medicine – including medical students, residents, and clinical fellows – pursuing year-long research projects in medical humanities and medical ethics under the mentorship of senior faculty. It was established [read more]
Medical Humanities and Live Theater. See It Now!
an unusual opportunity to attend one or all of three plays that bear directly on individual experiences of illness, altered bodily states, and the cultural and social context in which those alterations occur.
A Summer of Books
Here are some books I read during the past year or so that I found particularly absorbing, listed in no particular order.
Immigration in the News
Immigration is much in the news these days. The law that was passed in Arizona will, according to many legal experts, certainly be challenged as unconstitutional, and one hopes that the courts will strike it down. Perhaps we should all do as Linda Greenhouse suggested: wear buttons that say “I could be illegal.” Greenhouse wrote (in a recent New York Times Op Ed piece) that she was glad she had already seen the Grand Canyon because she wasn’t planning to [read more]
Sherman Alexie Wins PEN/Faulkner Award
yesterday’s announcement of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction, Author Sherman Alexie is the winner for fiction (War Dances, annotated in the Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database) and if you haven’t read any of his work you are missing a treat.
Narrative Medicine: A New York Physician Blogs From Haiti
I can’t help calling attention to a blog being written by Dr. Fritz Francois, an internist at NYU School of Medicine, who helped to coordinate a team of physicians, including himself, who are currently helping out in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. In addition to providing medical assistance, Dr. Francois is translating from Creole to English and vice versa. His blog is well-written, observant, and thoughtful. In addition to Nice Wife, see also, for example, Priming the Senses.
