History of Medicine and Diseases

“History of medicine and diseases” encompasses studies into the representations, knowledge and practices relating to diseases, which are comprehended as socio-cultural phenomena. They seek to comprehend the processes by which individuals and groups (including patients themselves) confer different meanings on the experience of disease and illness in different historical contexts, and how this experience influences the organization and perception of the social world. This concentration includes research into conceptions of and practices concerning specific diseases and the actions taken by medical institutions, public authorities and civil society organizations and groups with a view to controlling, preventing and treating these diseases. It also addresses the medical conceptions and interventions concerning the body and behaviors considered to be ‘unhealthy’ and ‘deviant’; the correlations between forms of low-income housing and social organization and the state of health/illness of slum dwellers; scientific knowledge and sanitation measures and policies in the field of tropical medicine in Brazil; and the relationships between health, disease and treatments amongst slave populations and Brazilians of African descent.