Vulnerable evidence

Questions about the production and application of medical knowledge are highly topical in both scientific and public debate. Medical knowledge is central to how contemporary individuals understand and relate to themselves and others. Medicine underpins key areas of political governance, and is linked to major economic interests.

The corona pandemic, with discussions about the spread of infection, mortality and countermeasures, has recently contributed to foregrounding medical knowledge even further within the public arena and day-to-day politics. This development clearly shows how medical knowledge is intimately intertwined with political, social and cultural processes. The course thus offers a deeper and interdisciplinary understanding of the social role of medical knowledge.

The course provides an in-depth study of key issues at the intersection of medicine and society - on the democratisation of knowledge, trust, mistrust and decision-making, as well as key critical instruments for understanding both the emergence of medical knowledge and its implementation and reception, both at the local and global level.

The course underscores epistemological and socio-political issues related to evidence-based medicine and public health. Structured around concrete ethnographic cases, the course provides both an historical and anthropological understanding of medical knowledge in context. By analysing different public health emergencies, like HIV, Ebola or COVID-19, the course illustrates what can we learn from the limitations of and problems in making medical evidence.

The course is of interest for students at the master and doctoral level in the humanities, social sciences and medical faculties who are interested in medical humanities, the history of evidence-based medicine and public health, its reception and application, and how social and cultural aspects interact with medical knowledge.