MA History (360G-Wellcome-208531_Z_17_Z)

£22,440

My project researches associations between fat bodies and gender in the medical literature of early modern Europe. While modern concerns with increasing rates of obesity are reflected by a growing historical scholarship on this topic, much remains to be examined, especially concerning the link between cultural ideas about fat bodies and the medical understandings of these bodies. The purpose of this research is to assess gendered ideas in early modern medical discussions on obesity. I will do so by examining European medical texts between 1650 and 1750, particularly comparing English medical debates with those occurring in the Netherlands in the same period. The goal of this comparison is to locate and explain differences in the extent to which gendered assumptions about obesity informed medical debates in each country, in different schools of thought, and even between individuals. I will assess the nature and causes of different explanations and treatments of obesity within the context of cultural, as well as medical developments, unique to period, place, and practitioner. I will demonstrate how and why gender played a role in the diagnosis and prescriptions for cures of obesity.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 22440
Applicant Surname Wubbels
Approval Committee Internal Decision Panel for C&S
Award Date 2017-07-30T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2016/17
Grant Programme: Title Masters Studentship in H&SS
Internal ID 208531/Z/17/Z
Lead Applicant Miss Marsha Wubbels
Partnership Value 22440
Planned Dates: End Date 2018-09-01T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2017-09-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region South West
Sponsor(s) Prof Kate Fisher