History

This course explores the history of health and health care in Canada, from the era of the First Nations' initial contact with Europeans, to the present day. Topics include: Aboriginal and European conceptions of health and illness; the impact of western infectious diseases on First Nations society; the health implications of rapid industrialization in the nineteenth century; the role of the state in sanitary reform and public health; the emergence of the medical and nursing professions; Canadian scientific research in medicine; the Canadian eugenics movement; and the origins and development of universal health care in the twentieth century. Race, class, gender, alternative medicine, and regional inequality will feature in small group discussions.