The Indiana Medical History Museum will host Dr. Kristin LaFollette of the University of Southern Indiana for her talk, "Rehumanizing People of the Past: Bioarchaeology, Medical Museums and Archives, and the Human Remains Trade."
Much of the communication used to reference human remains—including reports in bioarchaeology, labels and descriptions in medical museums and archives, and web content in the human remains trade—does not adequately recognize the humanity of the individuals represented by those remains. However, "rehumanizing language," which is informed by advocacy and social justice, offers one solution to this dehumanization problem. Building from concepts and ethical standards in bioarchaeology, medical museums and archives, the human remains trade, technical communication, and rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM), the speaker presents frameworks for developing rehumanizing language in various contexts to better honor, dignify, and respect the people represented by human remains. These frameworks are also applied to several original studies (one of which was conducted at the Indiana Medical History Museum), which explore existing communication and the ways it uses rehumanizing language or could be adapted to better emphasize the humanity of the dead.
The talk is free to attended for active IMHM Members or $5 dollars for the public. More registration info coming soon.