The New York Academy of Medicine Section on Historical Medicine announces the fourth talk in its 2003-2004 lecture series:

James C. Whorton, Ph.D., University of Washington School of Medicine ”From Cultism to CAM: Alternative Medicine in the Twentieth Century” Wednesday, January 21, 2003, 6:00 PM, with a reception beginning at 5:30 PM

The recent growth of interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) represents a dramatic reversal of the medical profession’s attitude toward unorthodox approaches to therapy. Through virtually the entire twentieth century, in fact, alternative medicine was scorned as “medical cultism.” This talk will examine the basis for medicine’s dismissal of alternative practitioners as cultists, and trace the transformation of alternative medicine’s image and status from the 1890s to the present.

James C. Whorton is the author of “Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America,” published in 2002 by Oxford University Press. He is a Professor of History in the Department of Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Professor Whorton has written many journal articles, and four books, including “Before Silent Spring: Pesticides and Public Health in Pre-DDT America” (1975), and “Inner Hygiene: Constipation and the Pursuit of Health in Modern Society” (2000).

This event is free and open to the public. For more information about NYAM programs in the history of medicine, write history@nyam.org or call Christian Warren.

---
Founded in 1847, the New York Academy of Medicine is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the health of the public through research, education and advocacy, with a particular focus on disadvantaged urban populations. Please visit our website.