Dr. William S. Silvers Holocaust, Genocide, and Contemporary Bioethics Lecture: "Bodies in Sight: Anatomy Atlases, Historical Violence, and Contemporary Bioethics"

Organisation

Indiana University Center for Bioethics

Location

Indiana University - Indianapolis Campus Center and online via Zoom

End

The purpose of the Silvers Lectureship is to offer space annually for physicians and other community leaders to consider the impact of their work and apply the ethical lessons of the Holocaust. The lectureship strives to focus healthcare workers on the morality of their actions and to ground contemporary conflicts in the lessons of history. The lecture is held in person at the IU Indianapolis Campus Center in the evening to allow members of the community to attend, and is available to be viewed online as well.

This year, our visiting speaker is Claudia Krebs, MD, PhD, a Professor of Teaching in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, who specializes in anatomy education and biomedical visualization.

This talk traces how anatomy atlases and education have rendered certain bodies visible, usable, and disposable, by describing how the Pernkopf and Spanner atlases were created from the bodies of people executed by the Nazis. Professor Claudia Krebs will examine how these legacies, and the ways they objectify the human body, continue to shape power dynamics in medicine. In the 2026 Annual Silvers Lecture, we will consider how practices of remembrance can transform contemporary bioethics and challenge educators and clinicians to look differently at the human body in medicine today.

Event start time: 07:00 pm

Event end time: 09:00 pm

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