Lecture: "Contested Wills: The Medico-legal Aspects of Acquired Language Disorders in Victorian England" by Marjorie Perlman Lorch (UCLA, 5 February 2008)
UCLA Law School Professor Emeritus is participating in this event which is co-sponsored by UCLA Programs in Medical Humanities and the UCLA Neuroscience History Archives.
Printable PDF version of this announcement:
http://www.library.ucla.edu/biomed/his/medclass-feb2008.pdf
UCLA Programs in Medical Classics
25th Year
Tuesday, 5 February 2008, 6:00 p.m.
UCLA Faculty Center
Contested Wills: The Medico-legal Aspects of Acquired Language Disorders in Victorian England
Marjorie Perlman Lorch, Ph.D. Reader in Brain and Language, Birkbeck College, University of London
Discussant:
William M. McGovern, LL.B.
Professor of Law, Emeritus, UCLA
In the second half of the 19th century several areas of theoretical development and evolving practice can be seen to converge in the civil court cases of contested wills. The determination of “being of sound mind” required by law was being challenged at this time by new clinical distinctions between intelligence and understanding, language and thought, speech and expression in people with neurological diseases. The emerging diagnostic categories of aphasia and dementia were being developed in the newly created fields of neurology and psychiatry.
At the same time jurisprudence was developing in the newly founded Probate Courts which were formed to deal with the large volume of cases regarding will-making.
Physicians were being called upon as expert witnesses with increasing frequency to aid in the determination of testamentary capacity. The development of ideas on language and thought in Victorian England is revealed in the medical and judicial opinions recorded in court reports on the ability of people with language and memory disorders to make wills.
This program will begin at 6:00 pm in the UCLA Faculty Center, followed by wine & soft drinks, an exhibit of rare books, and conversation.
There is no charge for the lecture, exhibit, and reception.
An optional dinner with the speakers, at $22.00 per person, will take place in the Faculty Center about 7:30 pm. An ADVANCE RESERVATION is required for dinner (but not the lecture); please bring a check made out to "UC Regents" to the lecture. To make a reservation or get more information, call the History & Special Collections Division of the Louise Darling Biomedical Library at (310) 825-6940 or emailing: tgj@library.ucla.edu .
Dinner seating is limited; reservations should be made by January 31.
This event is co-sponsored by UCLA Programs in Medical Humanities and the UCLA Neuroscience History Archives.
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Save the dates:
29 April 2008
Gerald Kutcher, Ph.D.
The Notorious Saenger Case: What Does It Tell Us About Post-World War II Medical Research Practices and Clinical Conduct
15 May 2008
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Ph.D.
Genetic Screening is not Eugenics and Never has Been
UCLA Programs in Medical Classics is a series of free presentations designed to enhance an appreciation of the links among famous medical writings, clinical practice, basic research, and humanistic scholarship. Several times a year these meetings bring together a convivial group of individuals of scholarly tastes--both from the community and from UCLA faculty, students, and staff--for a lecture and an opportunity to discuss and examine texts and topics that embody the history of advances in medicine, as well as the relations of medicine to broader cultural settings.