Gray Matter: Brains, Diseases, and Disorders

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Special Session

Organizer Name

Deborah Thorpe

Organizer Affiliation

Univ. of York

Presider Name

Aleksandra Pfau

Presider Affiliation

Hendrix College

Paper Title 1

Treatment of Learning Disabilities and Other Mental Health Issues in Medieval English Medicine and Law

Presenter 1 Name

Wendy J. Turner

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Augusta Univ.

Paper Title 2

Madness, Nightmares, Melancholy: Exceptional Mental States in Medieval Commentaries on Aristotle's De somno

Presenter 2 Name

Agnes Karpinski

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Univ. des Saarlandes

Start Date

14-5-2017 10:30 AM

Session Location

Schneider 1325

Description

Gray Matter: Brains, Diseases, and Disorders

This session invites papers that examine any aspect of medieval cognition, neurology, and/or psychiatry through medieval source material. This topic can be approached through any one or combination of disciplines, and novel combinations of disciplines are encouraged. Especially welcome are papers that consider the relationships between modern medicine and medieval source material, such as the benefits and/or inherent problems of retrospective diagnosis and the value of the study of medieval history for our medical understanding today.

The session also encourages papers that explore terminology for diseases and disorders both modern and premodern, the diagnosis of conditions involving the brain, and the impact of neurological/psychiatric diseases and disorders on medieval lives.

Deborah E. Thorpe