A History of Pain from the eighteenth century to the present. (360G-Wellcome-092708_Z_10_Z)

This project represents a major departure in scholarship on the history of pain, providing new insights into the diverse understanding of pain from the eighteenth century to the 1960s. For the first time, we will systematically gather and analyse data from a wide range of primary sources. The result will be a substantial new body of research that will allow us to gain a deep and far reaching understanding of how pain has been experienced and expressed by people whose suffering has frequently bee n overlooked. The project will also encourage methodological innovation, employing robust qualitative data management systems alongside highly-sophisticated techniques of discourse analysis, emotionology, and aesthesiology. By making our findings available to other scholars, the reach of this project will extend far beyond the project s life span of five years. It will enable us to develop future collaborative research initiatives. Through three major monographs, two edited collections, a seri es of articles in refereed journals, one small targeted exhibition and one major one, interdisciplinary workshops and an international conference, and a website, our findings will not only generate new knowledge of pain within a long historical context but will also stimulate new scholarship in the field.