Nursing Clio

Lo de la colza: Mass poisoning, state neglect, and corruption after the Spanish Transition Culinary rapeseed oil – or canola oil – is a staple in many parts of the world. It has a neutral flavor, it is on the healthy side as far as cooking oils go, and it is cheaper than olive and sunflo…

Despite its worldwide popularity, you won’t find canola oil in a Spanish kitchen or a Spanish supermarket. Rebeca Herrero Sáenz explores how state neglect and corruption led to thousands of citizens contracting colza toxic syndrome #publichealth #histmed nursingclio.org/2025/07/31/l...

Our book comes out September 9!! You can pre order your copy using the link shared ⬇️

Happy Friday! We are still accepting applications for the following positions: Book Reviews Editor and two Editors. #histmed

📚 History meets medicine from #OAHLecturer Deirdre Cooper Owens (Medical Bondage) and Wendy Kline (Exposed). These books offer insights on race, gender, & reproductive care in American history.

📚 Grab your copy of Medical Bondage:
ow.ly/JqEe50WuTFC

📚 Grab your copy of Exposed:
ow.ly/O3Wb50WuTFB

History of Deportation – AHA This handout was created for the AHA's Congressional Briefing on the history of deportation.

As you work on those fall syllabi... The AHA has released this cheat sheet for the history of deportation.

“Unseen: Inequality in Medicine” at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Leiden The medical field has long treated the 70 kg white male body as the norm — an assumption that continues to shape healthcare today. From March 7, 2025 to March 8, 2026, the award-winning Rijksmuseum…

The white cis body as the default setting for ‘human’? @nursingclio.bsky.social has published an interview I did with the curator of a new exhibition nursingclio.org/2025/07/23/u...

Dying Before Germ Theory As RFK questions germ theory, and measles ravages unvaccinated children, Americans need to know what is at risk. Americans died at higher rates and younger ages before the introduction of germ theo…

Today on @nursingclio.bsky.social, I share an account of falling ill and dying before germ theory and modern medicine. This #histmed is a peek into my current project, and an experience that I want everything thinking about health to know.

nursingclio.org/2025/07/21/d...

Introducing Nursing Clio Emergency Response: A New Series If you attended the Centennial meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine in early May 2025—or, indeed, if you spend any time among historians on social media—you’ve probably b…

CLIO ER is an ongoing series to encourage health historians to meet the moment. You can learn more about the project here: nursingclio.org/2025/05/21/i...

Great news readers we have two new essays this week! First is Melanie Kiechle’s Emergency Response essay: Dying Before Germ Theory.

Historians, be sure to check out this message from @nursingclio.bsky.social !!

Second most important thing to come to: a box of books from @hopkinspress.bsky.social So proud of all the work that went into this book with @cethompson.bsky.social and all our amazing authors

Our Bodies, Our Decisions: A Response to Andrew Sullivan’s NYT Essay In a recent New York Times, author Andrew Sullivan, a conservative British-American political commentator and former editor of The New Republic, argues that the trans movement has gone too far, pro…

We’re back! Today for NC Elizabeth Reis responds to Andrew Sullivan’s NYT essay. Reis argues “today’s young people eager to learn about the activism of earlier generations of LGBTQI+ people. We need more of this history in schools, not less.” Read more on here: nursingclio.org/2025/07/16/o...

The Nursing Clio Reader Now Available for Pre-Order RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS or BOOKSHOP.ORG   On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade, strip…

The @nursingclio.bsky.social reader is available for preorder! Have you ordered yours yet?? nursingclio.org/the-nursing-... 🗃️ #histmed

I'm honored to share that my article "The ‘Practitioner of Physick and Surgery’ and the Enslaved ‘Doctor’" was given honorable mention for the @nursingclio.bsky.social Prize for Best Journal Article in the History of Gender and Medicine! Many congrats to the winners Cathy McClive and Lisa W. Smith!

The “Practitioner of Physick and Surgery” and the Enslaved “Doctor”: Medicine, Slavery, Race, and Patriarchy in the Eighteenth-Century Jamaica In 1773, Alexander Johnston, a Scottish ‘Practitioner of Physick and Surgery’ in St. Ann, Jamaica, made a list titled ‘my slaves’. Beside the name ‘Galen’ he wrote ‘a Doctor’. Galen was the only ensla...

Honorable mention goes to…

Elise Mitchell for her article "The 'Practitioner of Physick and Surgery' and the Enslaved 'Doctor': Medicine, Slavery, Race, and Patriarchy in the Eighteenth-Century Jamaica." jiss.aberdeenunipress.org/article/id/3...

Women at the centre: medical entrepreneurialism and ‘la grande médecine’ in eighteenth-century Lyon Abstract. We draw on Colin Jones’ framing of the Sisters of Charity as medical practitioners rather than charitable carers (1989) to centre the entrepreneu

We are so excited to announce the winners of NC Prize for Best Journal Article 🎉

And the winners are…

Cathy McClive and Lisa Smith for their article "Women at the Centre: Medical Entrepreneurialism and 'La Grande Médecine' in Eighteenth-Century Lyon." academic.oup.com/fh/article/3...

Our first book is out in two months!! 🎉
We hope you preordered your copy!

Join Our Team! The editing collective at Nursing Clio is seeking three new staff members: one Book Reviews Editor and two new Editors! Nursing Clio is a volunteer-run, open access, collaborative blog project that…

Have you ever wanted to join the @nursingclio.bsky.social team? Now's your chance! We're seeking new editors AND a book review editor! We are a tight-knit, fun, intentional feminist community. Please consider joining us! nursingclio.org/about/staff/... 🗃️

We are a volunteer-run organization. We cannot currently pay authors at this time.

Join Our Team! The editing collective at Nursing Clio is seeking three new staff members: one Book Reviews Editor and two new Editors! Nursing Clio is a volunteer-run, open access, collaborative blog project that…

Apply here! nursingclio.org/about/staff/...

Nursing Clio is seeking three new staff members: one Book Reviews Editor and two new Editors!

We are a volunteer-run, open access, collaborative blog project that ties historical scholarship to current political, social, and cultural issues related to gender and medicine.

Please share widely!

Many visibly disabled or "unfit" potential immigrants would also be turned away at Ellis Island, and indeed that was the point of the physical inspections conducted there. And these eugenicist framings of disabled people as "burdens" continue into the 21st century.

nursingclio.org/2018/06/28/e...

I can't think of anyone else you should be reading than Melanie on this issue!

Pitch Nursing Clio Loading…

Nursing Clio E.R. is a special series dedicated to addressing breaking news related to the problematic health policies and public health crises of 2025. We are actively accepting pitches for short essays responding to current events with historical context.

nursingclio.org/write-for-us...

Miasma Theory: A Primer I recently received an unusual request—could I explain miasma theory to an NPR reporter? Miasma theory is suddenly newsworthy, roughly 150 years after germ theory displaced this explanation for the…

Our Clio ER essay by @melaniekiechle.bsky.social answers the question: what do we need to know about miasma theory?

Read her primer on miasma today ⤵️

nursingclio.org/2025/06/30/m...

Miasma Theory: A Primer I recently received an unusual request—could I explain miasma theory to an NPR reporter? Miasma theory is suddenly newsworthy, roughly 150 years after germ theory displaced this explanation for the…

"I recently received an unusual request—could I explain miasma theory to an @npr.org reporter?"

Today's #histSTM lunchtime read: @melaniekiechle.bsky.social condenses several centuries of #histmed into a useful primer for @nursingclio.bsky.social.

Miasma Theory: A Primer I recently received an unusual request—could I explain miasma theory to an NPR reporter? Miasma theory is suddenly newsworthy, roughly 150 years after germ theory displaced this explanation for the…

Melanie Kiechle asks: If miasma theory is guiding RFK's decisions, what do we need to know about it? A @nursingclio.bsky.social Emergency Response to the current HHS Secretary's adherence to the discredited, pseudoscientific theory: wp.me/p6hgwQ-9bd 🗃️

Neither Marine nor Maggot: Full Metal Jacket and the Crisis of Masculinity In October 2024, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump stood before his gathered rally attendees and made a promise: he would build a “Trump military” out of the supposed ruins that he claimed P…

For @nursingclio.bsky.social, I wrote this piece about masculinity, the military, and Full Metal Jacket. The movie anchored many men's sense of manliness, even for paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne Division.
nursingclio.org/2025/06/04/n...

Pitch Nursing Clio Loading…

We’re taking a publishing break until July 16! We’ll be back with new posts soon. You can still catch up with Sunday Morning Medicine every week. We will continue to publish Clio ER articles so get those pitches in! nursingclio.org/write-for-us...

Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults

Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. So we published a guide to the evidence-based vaccine recommendations in place *before* all 17 members of the advisory panel were abruptly dismissed by the new admin. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-... 🧪