Dissertation Writers: What role did physicians play in the enactment and repeal of Prohibition?”
This seems limiting at first, but as you are in the writing process, you will probably thank yourself for coming up with a well-defined topic. Something like “the history of cancer,” for instance, might be too ambitious for a 9-12 page paper, whereas “shifting conceptions of autism from the mid to late 20th century” would give you some clearer parameters while still leaving plenty of meat on the bone so-to-speak. I realize many of you are not well acquainted with the history of medicine beyond what we’ve covered in class. You might start by scanning through the Porter book (or better yet, the index) to find some potential subjects. If you find one in Porter, look at the references he used to write that chapter and the list of further readings on that subject (in the back of the book). Alternatively, you might look at the journals devoted to the history of medicine (see the list in the Library Resources document in the Files folder). They will give you some sense of questions that historians typically ask about the history of medicine You might also look within a particular era that interests you (say, the Medieval period or the Enlightenment). Feel free to think slightly outside of the normal bounds of “physic,” to things like pharmacology, veterinary medicine, surgery, or other medical topics. Here are a handful of example topics/questions: “What has the example of tobacco taught us about the relationship between medical opinion, industry, and the law?” “What role did physicians play in the enactment and repeal of Prohibition?” “Why was Medieval Europe relatively more permissive of women as health care providers than it was in Antiquity or the Early Modern period?” “How did the interactions of Chinese and Western medicine differ in the following two contexts: the west coast of the United States and the urban centers of eastern China between the late 19th century and the late 20th?”
