History, diseases and epidemics
Dr. Mercedes Alanís Rufino
Research professor of the academic area of History and Anthropology of the UAEH.
Diseases have accompanied mankind since ancient times. If one asks questions to understand the past, one will find different testimonies of how they were experienced, what was known about them and how they were dealt with.
In the case of the territory that is now Mexico, there are several records of epidemic diseases. From the novo-Hispanic period onwards, we know about the different epidemics of smallpox, matlazahuatl, or cocoliztli that affected a large part of the population.
To these diseases were added, over the centuries, the ravages of syphilis, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, plague and others such as the so-called Spanish flu of 1918. The number of people who died from some of these diseases is known thanks to the records found in parish and civil archives from the second half of the 19th century onwards.
Sometimes we also know the official dispositions to contain the advances of the disease, in addition to identifying the work performed by doctors, surgeons, phlebotomists, that is to say, the experts in making bloodletting or putting leeches, apothecaries, nurses, among other characters such as barbers, who not only cut hair or beards, but could also extract a tooth or make small cures.
Approaching diseases throughout history allows us to learn about different cultural ways of understanding illness and health, about the development of science, technological advances, medicine as a branch of knowledge, hospitals, those responsible for health care and also to know, although it is not always possible, the voices of the sick.
From history, anthropology, demography, public health and epidemiology, among other disciplines, valuable research has been done on diseases, both in Mexico and in other latitudes. Undoubtedly, the present we are living in is what is leading us to ask ourselves what happened in other times when they experienced far-reaching diseases.
Seminar "History and Science".
Based on these premises and with the aim of disseminating historical knowledge about diseases and epidemics, the permanent seminar "History and Science" invites the community of the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo (UAEH) and the general public to the virtual course "History, diseases and epidemics" that will be transmitted on the Facebook page of the seminar itself, from Monday, November 9 to Friday, November 13 at 5:00 pm. Those who follow the transmissions and correctly answer a questionnaire at the end of the course will receive a certificate of attendance. For those who are unable to connect on those days and times, the sessions will be recorded and will remain on the social network, so they will have the opportunity to listen to them.
The course will be taught by two specialists in the history of epidemics in Mexico, Dr. América Molina del Villar and Dr. Carlos Alcalá Ferráez. The sessions will address the topics of what is involved in the study of epidemics throughout history, how epidemics are studied historically and some case studies of epidemics in the history of Mexico, such as cholera in the Yucatan Peninsula in the 19th century and influenza in 1918.
América Molina del Villar is currently a research professor at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS). She holds a degree in ethnohistory from the National School of Anthropology and History and a PhD in history from El Colegio de México. She is a specialist in social and demographic history of epidemics in the colonial period and during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
She is the author of numerous publications on different aspects of epidemics and pandemics in Mexico during the colonial period and the first decades of the 20th century. Among her most recent publications are "Remedios curativos y propaganda médica contra la influenza de 1918 en México" and the book Guerra, tifo y cerco sanitario en la ciudad de México 1911-1917, published by CIESAS in 2016.
Carlos Alcalá Ferráez holds a PhD in history from the University of Barcelona with the thesis "Asistencia, sanidad y población en la ciudad de San Francisco de Campeche, 1812-1861", thanks to grants from the Fundación Pablo García del Estado de Campeche and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, respectively.
He is currently a full-time research professor at the Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi" of the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. His line of research is the study of epidemics in the Yucatan Peninsula, mainly cholera and smallpox.
She is part of the historical demography network of the Colegio de Michoacán. He is a member of the National System of Researchers and has the PRODEP profile (Program for the Professional Development of Teachers). He has published several articles and books on his research topic, including "Población y Epidemias en San Francisco de Campeche", published in 2015 and as co-author of Historia Breve de Campeche, published by Fondo de Cultura Económica.
In my case, I am a research professor in the academic area of History and Anthropology at the UAEH. I have a PhD in modern and contemporary history from the Dr. José María Luis Mora Research Institute. My area of interest is the history of health and assistance in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, of which I have several publications, including the book La atención médica infantil en la ciudad de México. Discursos, imaginarios e instituciones 1861-1943, published by the Universidad Autónoma de Hidalgo. I am a member of the National System of Researchers.
I coordinate the permanent seminar "History and the Sciences" and interested people can follow us through the Facebook page where they can find information on different aspects of history, diseases and epidemics, including a lecture by Daniel Herrera on literature and disease and another by Nuria Galland on art and epidemics.