Welcome to the Tuberculosis Specimen

Welcome to The Tuberculosis Specimen!

This dissertation is many things: it is an examination of scientific practices around tuberculosis research at the turn of twentieth century; it is a rumination on the ethics of doing research in the history of medicine; and it is a methods dissertation examining the possibilities of practice-based research in humanistic fields.

As this dissertation deals with many sensitive topics, I wanted to have a content warning before accessing the argument directly.

Some sensitive topics that are in this dissertation include:

• Non-consensual medical research practices.
• Depiction of human remains.
• Discussion of systemic racism and ableism, especially related to eugenics.
• Discussion of death and dying.
• Depiction of humans in sensitive and compromising positions.

Some of these concepts are addressed in argument, and some are depicted in the images. For those who are, perhaps, a bit more squeamish regarding human remains or human subject research, I would recommend clicking the opaque button at the top left of each page, to black out the human remains depicted in sections. (More information can be found in the site’s How to Use this Site page.)

Please skip any sections that may cause emotional distress. This dissertation was built to be engaged non-linearly. Ideas are introduced in multiple places, so as to afford understanding for as many readers as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read this project.

Access the dissertation.