Every
day, in the past and present, people work with human
remains – in
medical schools, hospitals, research laboratories and
morgues. Yet public
attention
is only captured
by this work
when a scandal erupts, usually about unethical
or unlawful use of human remains, such as when they are used
without
consent, sold for profit, or displayed in controversial
ways.
This symposium draws together medical scientists, historians,
legal scholars, anthropologists and museum practitioners to examine
the use and abuse of human remains. In light of recent controversies,
papers will deal with the ethical use of the dead in medical
science, the collection of tissues and organs for therapeutic
and research purposes, the donation of bodies for human dissection,
attitudes to hospital post-mortem examinations, and displays
of human remains.
SPEAKERS
Gareth Jones
Professor of Anatomy, University of Otago, New Zealand,
author of Speaking for the Dead: Cadavers in Biology
and Medicine, will give the opening address.
Stephen
Cordner
Professor of Medicine and Director of the Victorian Institute
of Forensic Medicine, co-author of Ethics, Law and
Medical Practice
Jenny
Hayes
Lecturer, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
University of Melbourne
Megan Hicks
Commisioning Producer, Permanent Galleries,
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Philomena Horsley
Medical Anthropologist, Centre for Health & Society,
University of Melbourne
Ross Jones
Historian, School of Social and Environmental Enquiry,
University of Melbourne, author of Humanity’s
Mirror: 150 Years of Anatomy in Melbourne
Helen
MacDonald
Historian, The Australian Centre, University of Melbourne, author
of Human Remains: Episodes in Human Dissection
Loane
Skene
Professor of Law, University of Melbourne, author
of Law and Medical Practice: Rights, Duties, Claims and Defences
