Plants and pedagogy: the role of female botanical artists in medical education, 1726-1961
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: School of Humanities
Abstract
This project aims to explore the aesthetic, ecological and social value of botanical knowledge
contained within artworks used as pedagogical tools in medical education.
1) What is the value of the contribution of female artists to botanical illustration for
medical teaching? How influential was teaching material created by women at a time
of hostility towards female entry to the medical profession?
2) As pharmaceutical drugs replaced medicinal plant use, how did studies of botanical
knowledge continue to have relevance in medical teaching? For instance, what
connections can be drawn with the teaching of nosology?
3) John Balfour brought living plants into his lectures and compared them with botanical
diagrams to juxtapose illusion and reality. What was the aesthetic value to medical
science of the botanical knowledge contained in these artworks?
4) In modern Western medicine, plants are invisible providers of pharmaceutically
valuable compounds. How might their contribution to medicine be visualised or
communicated in modern medical education?
5) How can ecological literacy be promoted by botanical artworks? Why might
ecological literacy be beneficial for public health education?
contained within artworks used as pedagogical tools in medical education.
1) What is the value of the contribution of female artists to botanical illustration for
medical teaching? How influential was teaching material created by women at a time
of hostility towards female entry to the medical profession?
2) As pharmaceutical drugs replaced medicinal plant use, how did studies of botanical
knowledge continue to have relevance in medical teaching? For instance, what
connections can be drawn with the teaching of nosology?
3) John Balfour brought living plants into his lectures and compared them with botanical
diagrams to juxtapose illusion and reality. What was the aesthetic value to medical
science of the botanical knowledge contained in these artworks?
4) In modern Western medicine, plants are invisible providers of pharmaceutically
valuable compounds. How might their contribution to medicine be visualised or
communicated in modern medical education?
5) How can ecological literacy be promoted by botanical artworks? Why might
ecological literacy be beneficial for public health education?
People |
ORCID iD |
| Sarah MacAllister (Student) |