Fall USI Liberal Arts Faculty Colloquium Series to begin September 8

The University of Southern Indiana College of Liberal Arts will host its first Faculty Colloquia presentation of the Fall Semester from 3-4:30 p.m. September 8 in Kleymeyer Hall, located in the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center. The event is open to the public at no charge.  

Dr. Kristin LaFollette, Assistant Professor of English and Affiliated Faculty in Gender and Sexuality Studies, will present “Rehumanizing Rhetoric, Recuperative Ethos, and Human Specimens: A Case Study of the Indiana Medical History Museum” and will answer audience questions about her findings.  

LaFollette’s presentation will outline how “human specimens in medical museums are often dehumanized, meaning the individuals represented by the specimens are reduced to their illness or injury.” She will be discussing the importance of specific rhetoric and vocabulary when presenting medical findings or creating a narrative for medical specimens preserved in museum settings.  

LaFollette is the author of Hematology (2021 Harbor Editions Laureate Prize winner) and Body Parts (2017 GFT Press Chapbook Prize winner) and a member of the Board of Advisors at The Blood Project (TBP), an educational platform out of Harvard Medical School that works toward bridging the gap between evidence-based medicine and patient care. 

This presentation and subsequent series is made possible by Liberal Arts Research Awards (LARA) Funding awarded to USI and Dr. Adam Sizemore, Colloquium Director and Assistant Professor of Sociology. For questions regarding the Colloquium Series, contact Sizemore at dasizemore@usi.edu.