WorldCanvass: Women, Hysteria and Medicine

Piece Description

The rich and problematic history of hysteria is the subject of this WorldCanvass. While hysteria is no longer considered a valid medical term, it was once thought to be a disease of women with a wide array of symptoms including headaches, nervousness, excessive expressiveness and malaise. By the late 19th century, hysteria had come to refer to some level of sexual dysfunction. Our program takes a multi-disciplinary look at the history of hysteria, investigating its social, cultural and medical context.

Our guests discuss the prevailing societal and familial expectations for women in late 19th century Europe and America; the medical community’s understanding, then and now, of the relationship between sexuality and psychological or physical health; the ways in which ‘hysterics’ or ‘madwomen’ have been portrayed in various artistic genres and popular culture; and the twentieth century’s redefinition of everything from appropriate gender roles within and outside of the family to acceptable sexual expression.

A particular focus of the evening is Sarah Ruhl’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play “In the Next Room (or the vibrator play).”  Director Meredith Alexander and dramaturg Jennifer Page-White introduce the play’s themes and its setting in the parlor and examination room of a doctor who provides cutting edge treatments for patients diagnosed with hysteria. Joining them are actors Kurt Smith and Michelle Smith, as well as scenic designer Andrew Nelsen.

University of Iowa professor of evolutionary biology John Logsdon and UIHC psychiatrist Scott Stuart join UI professors Bluford Adams and Teresa Mangum (English), Katherine Eberle (Music), professor Kimberly Marra (Theater and American Studies), Elizabeth Heineman (History and Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies), Alexander, Smith, Smith, Neslen and Page-White for this intriguing topic: women, hysteria and medicine.