Thursday, September 25 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
University Center — 415 - Conference Room
Interested in reading award-winning history books? Join the History Department’s new book club to meet twice a semester to explore and discuss prizewinning history books on a wide range of topics. Bring your lunch and meet your USF community for an informal, fun discussion led by Prof. Melissa Dale. While reading the entire book is not required to participate, we encourage you to read enough to join in the discussion.
All members of the USF community are welcome.
Thurs., Sept. 25, 11:45-12:45 pm., UC 415
Featured book: "Madness in the Family: Women, Care, and Illness in Japan" by H. Yumi Kim
To fend off American and European imperialism in the nineteenth century, Japan strove to strengthen itself by drawing on the most updated ideas and practices from around the world. By the 1880s, this included the introduction of Western-derived psychiatry and its ideas about mental illness. The first Japanese psychiatrists claimed that mental illnesses required medical treatment in specialized institutions rather than confinement at home, as had been common practice. Yet the state implemented no social welfare policies to make new medical services more accessible and affordable to the public. The family, especially women, thus continued to carry the burden of caring for those considered mad. Read more>>
Available as an e-book through Gleeson Library
Thurs., Nov. 6, 11:45-12:45 pm., UC 415
Featured book: "The Coming of the Railway: A New Global History, 1750-1850" by David Gwyn
The first global history of the epic early days of the iron railway. Railways, in simple wooden or stone form, have existed since prehistory. But from the 1750s onward the introduction of iron rails led to a dramatic technological evolution—one that would truly change the world.
In this rich new history, David Gwyn tells the neglected story of the early iron railway from a global perspective. Driven by a combination of ruthless enterprise, brilliant experimenters, and international cooperation, railway construction began to expand across the world with astonishing rapidity. From Britain to Australia, Russia to America, railways would bind together cities, nations, and entire continents. Rail was a tool of industry and empire as well as, eventually, passenger transport, and developments in technology occurred at breakneck speed—even if the first locomotive in America could muster only 6 mph. Read More >>
Available as an e-book through Gleeson Library