Disability Things, History, and Mental Health with Smithsonian Curator Katherine Ott

Humans come in many varieties—size, gender, intellect, skin color, communication style… Why has it been such a struggle to embrace the differences? Using objects from history as a guide, this talk examines some of the ways disability has collided with assumptions about how to be human.

Our guest speaker is Katherine Ott, Curator of Medicine and Science at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Ott specializes in topics including the history of the body, disability, ethnic and folk medicine, integrative and alternative medicine, ophthalmology, plastic surgery and dermatology, medical technology, prosthetics and rehabilitation, and gender and sexuality. You can see an online exhibit she curated, “EveryBody: an Artifact History of Disability in America,” here.

This virtual lecture is free! Click here to register. When you register, you will get an email with an attached ticket from Yapsody with the Zoom link in it.

Questions? Email Natalie Belanger, Adult Programs Manager, at [email protected]