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April 23, 2010
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Mexican health system analyzed in discourse Visiting lecturer talks of Yucatan public health
His exploration of this unique history focused on Yucatan, Mexico, as part of the Medical Humanities Initiative, a program at Susquehanna designed to "foster interdisciplinary inquiries into medicine," according to the program's Web site. Sowell's lecture was titled "Medicine on the Periphery: Public Health and the Biomedicalization of Yucatan, Mexico." According to a press release from University Communications, Sowell shared research on "public health development in the region from the 1870s through the 1950s." He touched on issues of "infrastructure development, the authorization of biomedicine, the decline of traditional medicine and changing disease environments," according to the release. Sowell has spent the past 10 years studying Mexico following a close study of Columbian Ecuador and the publication of several books. He has worked on and in Yucatan since 1991 and on the history of medicine since 1994. His work on what he calls the "history of public health in Yucatan" stemmed from the study of an 1872 riot over the use of ritualized versus modern medical remedies. His research has included two trips to Mexico City, three trips to Yucatan and several trips around the United States. In a 2001 work he covered the "history of medicine at transitions" in Columbian Ecuador. According to Sowell, the clashes between public health officials of the Mexican government and more local officials in Yucatan were a particular focus on his work. He spoke on the issue of "why public health systems cause conflict," which he says is rooted in control of public apparatuses of public life and "who has the last word" in control of Mexican governance. The roots of the modernization of medicine and the move to nationalized medicine in Mexico can, Sowell said, be traced to the 1910 to 1917 revolution in Mexico and many of the changes in medicine and public health occurred in the 1930s. When asked why undergraduate students would be interested in his lecture, Sowell said that "contemporary history often looks to politics and economics." His lecture provided an opportunity to look at "how modern Mexico was created in a medical sense." The main point of Sowell's lecture was that "over the course of the 20th century, medical practices in Yucatan were completely transformed"-from ritual to biomedical, something Sowell called a "fantastic change." That change, according to Sowell, especially the nationalization of health care in Mexico, allowed that country to respond to quickly and effectively to the outbreak of H1N1 and prevent an epidemic there. Professor Sowell spoke well of his audience in a phone interview, saying that Susquehanna's students shared "probably some of the best questions I've ever been asked." The more than 40 students who attended the lecture enjoyed a 45-minute question-and-answer session with Sowell after the formal lecture. Sowell commented that many Susquehanna students in attendance were studying modern Mexico in class and described his audience as "attentive and inquisitive." Sowell was contacted via e-mail in August by the Medical Humanities Initiative to lecture at Susquehanna. According to Sowell's faculty biography, his scholarship "focuses upon the history of Latin America." Sowell served as assistant academic dean and direction of international programs from 1996 to 1999, according to his online biography. He has worked at Juniata since 1989, serving on several committees in the 1990s for the "internationalization" of Juniata's campus. Associate Professor of History Edward Slavishak was quoted in the University Communications press release saying, "Sowell's work questions the boundaries between scientific and folk medicines by revealing the twists and turns through which present day medical beliefs emerged. "He brings to life a world in which natural remedies, high-tech procedures, and traditional rituals have coexisted and often conflicted," Slavishak added. "Sowell is a member of the American Historical Association, the Latin American Studies Association and the Conference on American History," according to the Juniata Web site and has his master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Latin American history, where he was a member of the classes of 1980 and 1986, respectively. |
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