Monthly Archives: November 2016

Phrenology – bumps on your head defining your aptitudes?

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Phrenology model and human skull

Phrenology model and human skull


The Woodson Research Center is collaborating with Rice’s Humanities Research Center and the Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center Archives to host local high school students on field trips to Rice exploring the medical humanities.

Lecture portion of the field trip
Rachel Conrad Bracken, a Civic Humanist Fellow at the Humanities Research Center, has developed a lecture entitled “Diagnosing Deviance: How Social Norms Influence our Definitions of Health and Disease,” with the 19th century science of phrenology as a case study to “explore how cultural understandings of race and gender biased medical diagnoses and popular perceptions of “ideal” facial features. ”

Archives portion of the field trip
After Rachel’s lecture and discussion, the students gather in one of Fondren’s collaborative spaces, and have a hands-on experience with archival materials which relate to phrenology and other outmoded models of medicine.

Osterhout phrenological chart

Osterhout phrenological chart

From the Woodson Research Center, the John P. Osterhout Phrenological Chart (https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/27054) shows a 19th century doctor’s evaluation of Mr. Osterhout, measuring his relative powers on a scale of 1-7, and suggesting appropriate careers for him. Strangely, even though he was rated as having a low level of perception and memory of sizes, it was suggested he might be a good mechanic.

Another example from Woodson includes the Mirabeau B. Lamar travel journal of 1835, in which Lamar (who went on to become the second president of the Republic of Texas) describes a speaker in a local church on the topic of phrenology, and whether one can tell from the shape of a man’s head whether he will commit murder (Lamar journal, pg 12).

Students examine phrenological materials

Students examine phrenological materials

The Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center Archives, represented by Phil Montgomery, brought a phrenological model, a human skull from their research collection, and handed out blank charts for the students to use in trying their own analysis.

Phil also brought a variety of older medical tools such as an early surgery kit, a lancet for bleeding patients, and an early electric shock therapy tool.

Impact
The students really enjoyed seeing the tools of the trade for these outmoded medical models and were inspired to include archives in their future research. Seeing the original tools in person helped the students see how seriously these concepts were in their day, even as we see them now as quack medicine. To quote Rachel’s lecture, “by learning to recognize the flaws in outdated models of medicine and anatomy, students can begin to see how contemporary medicine, too, is shaped by the diagnostic technologies and scientific knowledge available to us—knowledge always mediated by our culture and subject to change.”

Executive Committee Meeting Summaries, October 6-November 3, 2016

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Executive Committee Meeting Summary, November 3, 2016

1) Fondren Fellow Ian Lowrie, a graduate student in Anthropology, presented a draft of his report “Developing a Culture of Care for Research Data at Rice.” The report will be shared via the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive soon.

2) The Executive Committee discussed how to approach strategic planning. All schools and divisions at Rice will engage in strategic planning as the university gears up for the new capital campaign. Spiro will facilitate a discussion about strategic priorities with the Library Committee at the November meeting. Input will also be sought from staff.

3) The Executive Committee approved a proposal from Head of Access Services Sue Garrison to end Fondren’s borrowing and lending agreement with HAM-TMC. Only 6 HAM-TMC users have charged Fondren materials since 2014. In addition, the HAM-TMC library is only accessible to TMC card swipe holders. Fondren would like to clean up user data in preparation for a potential LMS platform change.

4) Lowman invited suggestions for topics for a Town Meeting, tentatively scheduled for January of 2017. Suggested topics include the strategic planning process, reports from standing committees, and the Survey Data Group recommendations.

5) Lowman updated the group on a proposed donation of WW II materials to the Woodson. A white paper outlining the terms of the proposed donation will be issued by the potential donor.

October 20, 2016

No meeting.

Executive Committee Meeting Summary, October 6, 2016

1) Amanda Thomas, David Bynog and Kathy Weimer discussed the recommendations of the Survey Data Group, which analyzed data from the Ithaka survey and Survey of All Students. The report will be released on the Fondren wiki and will be discussed at an upcoming Town Hall meeting. A spring News from Fondren article emphasizing outcomes of the report was also suggested. The Executive Committee will review outstanding recommendations at a meeting in the near future.

2) The Executive Committee discussed how to handle Fondren locations that have recently been renamed but not yet updated in the catalog. Melinda Flannery will look into implications of changing Periodical Room to South Reading Room in catalog.

3) Janet Thompson is working on the process to enable supervisors to approve timesheets for non-exempt employees before they go to Karen Hyde. Fondren will be broken into sub-orgs. Every manager will approve the timesheets of their own staff, and there can be as many approvers as necessary (e.g. multiple in one organization). The manager will approve staff’s hours; the system will then send an email to Karen Hyde saying that this person has approved. Karen will verify that the hours have been filled out correctly (e.g. hours aren’t put in under a holiday) and do the final approval. This new process will apply to students as well. There will be training.