An examination of the discursive interplay about politics, religion, and medicine in a 17th-18th cent. Sanskrit allegory, Jivanandanam (“The Joy of Life”).

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories “The Birthmark” (1843) and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (1844) encourage critical thinking about science and scientific research as forms of social power. In this collaborative activity, students work in small groups to discuss the ways in which these stories address questions of human experimentation, gender, man…[Read more]

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories “The Rejected Blessing” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” dramatize ideological com-petition among doctors and clergymen from Renaissance Italy to colonial Boston over care of the body. In the context of Hawthorne’s life, these stories show his foresighted theorizing of medical hegemony and its dangers to public and in…[Read more]

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories “The Rejected Blessing” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” dramatize ideological com-petition among doctors and clergymen from Renaissance Italy to colonial Boston over care of the body. In the context of Hawthorne’s life, these stories show his foresighted theorizing of medical hegemony and its dangers to public and in…[Read more]