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I’m probably not the only person who has a soft spot for unknown collections, especially if they turn out to be rich and reasonably well-curated. Today I became aware of the odontological collection at the University of Oslo, which goes back to the 1880’s when the Norwegian Dentists Association began acquiring objects; it was handed […]

I Medicinsk Museions gård har det indtil denne uge være muligt at se et apotekerskilt opbevaret udenfor udstillingerne og de beskyttende magasiner. Det hang oprindeligt udenfor Frihavns Apotek i København, og apotekets navn forklarer det flotte grønne skib med hvælvede sejl der pryder skiltet. Apotekerskiltet, og dermed skibet, har tilbragt årtier udendørs, først ved den […]

”Enhver mand som er ved sin fornufts fulde brug, bør gøre sig klart at sundhed er det som er allermest værd for mennesker, og derfor bør han lære sig selvhjælp i sygdomme. Han må forstå hvad der bliver sagt og foretaget af lægerne m.h.t. hans krop, og danne sig en mening om det. Hans indsigt […]

An online-version of Adam’s, Camilla’s and my essay “Between meaning culture and presence effects: contemporary biomedical objects as a challenge to museums” is now available on the website of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Here’s the abstract of the paper: The acquisition and display of material artefacts is the raison d’être of museums. But what constitutes a […]

Adam’s, Camilla’s og min artikel “Between meaning culture and presence effects: contemporary biomedical objects as a challenge to museums” — som sammenfatter grundideen i Medicinsk Museions forskningsproblematik — er nu tilgængelig i en online-version på tidskriftet Studies in History and Philosophy of Science‘s hjemmeside. Det koster en formue at læse den via tidskriftets hjemmeside i betalingsversionen  — men […]

Curators in medical museums that plan to get involved with the powerful practices of contemporary biomedical visualization (we all do, don’t we?) might learn something from the announced ‘Biomedical Visualisations and Society’ seminar and workshop series at the University of Warwick Medical School next spring with the aim  to critically explore the social and political implications of biomedical imaging […]

My email inbox is continuously inundated with announcements for workshops, seminars, colloquia, conferences and other kinds of academic gatherings, covering all possible shades of the academic spectrum. Everything of the slightest interest for our job here in the museum gets some attention. I must admit that over and over again I get a feeling of deja […]

I torsdags (den 11. nov) holdt jeg nedenstående oplæg på Organisationen Danske Museers (ODM) årlige kulturhistoriske orienteringsmøde på Fuglsøcentret. Oplægget var formuleret som en kritisk indledning til eftermiddagens diskussion om sponsorering og branding. Hvordan kan erhvervslivet inddrages i museum 2.0? Jeg vil lægge op til et lidt anderledes perspektiv på diskussionen om museer, erhvervsliv og ’museum 2.0’, end […]

German-speaking medical museum curators should be interested in a symposium on university museums and collections to be held at the Humboldt University, Berlin, 18 – 20 February 2010 , organised by the Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Kulturtechnik and the Berliner Medizinhistorischen Museum der Charite: Das Symposium setzt sich u.a. zum Ziel, gemeinsam nach neuen Aufgaben fur […]

Dansk Datahistorisk Forening og Medicinsk Museion afholder i morgen et debatarrangement om CPR-nummerets historie, så  hvis du nogen sinde har undret dig over, hvilken historie der ligger bag de ti cifre på dit sygesikringsbevis, er dette arrangement måske noget for dig. Vi har inviteret tre fagpersoner der vil give hver deres bud på historien om CPR-nummeret […]

Historians of medicine have largely eschewed notions like ‘progress’ and ‘advance’ in medical science and medical practice in favour of more historicist and relativistic understandings. But for medical practitioners and patients alike, the notions of ‘progress’ and ‘advance’ usually make more sense. Some philosophers too think it is time to refocus on the idea of […]

We here at Medical Museion are always on the outlook for new and interesting institutional experiments to learn from. This week’s announcement of up-coming events at OBSERVATORY is inspirational: The Culture of Curiosity is everywhere these days. Wunderkammern appear in popular art, cutting-edge fashion, film, books and museum exhibitions. This aesthetic has proved surprisingly durable […]