Deutsches Haus will host “Recognizing Syphilis: Medical Knowledge and the Politics of Explanation,” a talk featuring University of Hamburg Professor Monika Pietrzak-Franger, on Fri., Oct. 6.
NYU’s Deutsches Haus will host “Recognizing Syphilis: Medical Knowledge and the Politics of Explanation,” a talk featuring University of Hamburg Professor Monika Pietrzak-Franger, on Fri., Oct. 6, 6:30 p.m. at its Greenwich Village location (42 Washington Mews at University Place).
Pietrzak-Franger, Deutsches Haus’ 2017-18 DAAD Visiting Scholar, will explore the tensions between invisibility and visibility as characteristic of the late 19th century representation of syphilis. She will also focus on the power dynamics underlying syphilis recognition: When, and under what circumstances, could one view the disease? Who was allowed to see it? What was the justification behind these acts of evocation? How was the spectacle of syphilis framed and what political considerations accompanied the display of the disease?
Pietrzak-Franger has published on Victorian and neo-Victorian studies, gender, medicine, visual culture, and adaptation. She is the author of “The Male Body and Masculinity” (2007), editor of “Women, Beauty, and Fashion” (2014), and co-editor of “Neo-Victorianism and Globalisation” (2015), “Disease, Communication and the Ethics of (In)Visibility” (2014), “Reflecting on Darwin” (2014), and “Adaptations–Performing across Media and Genres” (2008).
The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, please email deutscheshaus.rsvp@nyu.edu. Space at Deutsches Haus is limited; please arrive 10 minutes prior to the event. Please call 212.998.8660 for more information. Subways: R, W (8th St.); 6 (Astor Pl.)
“Recognizing Syphilis: Medical Knowledge and the Politics of Explanation” is a DAAD-sponsored event.