"Death and the Doctor – The Enlightenment Battle Between Medicine and Death"

"Death and the Doctor – The Enlightenment Battle Between Medicine and Death" with Dr. Dan O'Brien

Summary

The enlightenment was a time of increasing medical knowledge and innovation but neither could change the inevitability of death. Across a changing nation, dying people were caught between the demands of medicine and religion – this was perfect material for the satirists. 

In this talk, death historian Dr Dan O’Brien examines how enlightenment depictions of the deathbed imagined a struggle between competing influences on the experience of death. In a thrilling cavalcade of images the doctor is both a battling hero and nefarious collaborator with the funeral trade. Who does the patient trust when the doctor can gain from both cure and catastrophe?

Bio

Dr Dan O’Brien is a historian of death in long-eighteenth-century England. His research primarily focuses on the development of the undertaking trade and changing attitudes to death in georgian England. Dan seeks to understand how the death and its rituals were perceived by society, by analysing how funerals and deathbeds were presented in the popular culture of the period. Drawing upon an eclectic range of source materials has enabled him to consider simple, but often overlooked, questions about how people’s knowledge about the early trade was formed. Dan also talks publicly to a wide range of audiences on different themes in mortality history such as funerary gifts, sea burial and mourning jewellery. He has recently appeared on the After Dark podcast talking about the funeral of Queen Victoria and describing a funerary crime on Killing Time with Rebecca Rideal. Dan is currently writing a history of London as told through events and places along the Thames.

Venue:
The White Harte
54-58 Park Row, Bristol BS1 5LH

Event Running Time:
Doors 4pm
Introduction: 4:25pm
Lecture: 4:30pm
Q&A: 5:15pm
Mix & mingle with other attendees 5:25pm
Wrap up 5:45pm

Food:
If you plan on eating at the venue, we recommend arriving as early as possible so the kitchen can get your order out before the talk starts.

FAQ

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Pints of Knowledge is a series of public talks where experts, researchers, and big thinkers share fascinating ideas all in the relaxed setting of a pub. We bring brilliant minds and curious audiences together over a pint, covering topics from science and politics to history, art, and beyond.

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At each Pints of Knowledge event, you’ll hear engaging talks (about 40 minutes) from expert speakers on fascinating topics — followed by audience Q&A. The vibe is informal and social, set in a pub where you can grab a drink, meet interesting people, and enjoy big ideas in a relaxed setting.

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