Institute for the History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine
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Institute for the History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine
Leihgesterner Weg 52 Telephone (+49) 0641 99 - 47701 |
The Institute for the History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine was founded in 1965. Following the retirement of its long-standing director, Prof. Dr. Volker Roelcke, the Institute has been under the acting leadership of Prof. Dr. Michael Knipper since April 2025. Further information on the history of the Institute can be found here. The reflections on the aims and self-conception of the field of medical history formulated by Volker Roelcke in 2003 under the title “Medical History – What for?” continue to shape the Institute’s work today. In particular, the implications for teaching and research arising from the Lancet Commission on Medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust, in which Prof. Roelcke played a key role, remain central to our activities. With the establishment of a second professorship at the Institute in 2022, focusing on “Global Health, Migration and Medical Humanities” (Prof. Michael Knipper), and the renaming of the unit as the “Institute for the History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine” in 2023, the Institute’s academic profile has been further expanded. In teaching, we continue to place a strong emphasis on fostering students’ critical self-reflection on the historical, social and theoretical foundations of medicine, as well as on related ethical and societal issues. To this end, we draw on insights and methods from medical history, ethics, cultural studies and the social sciences, including the field of global health. A particular focus in both teaching and research lies on questions of equity, participation and non-discrimination in health care. Our work is grounded in the internationally recognized human right to health, which affirms the entitlement of all people to equitable and dignified health care. The project “Migration and the Human-Rights-Based Conceptualization of ‘Health’: Paradigms, Practices and Conflicts” is conducted within the DFG Research Unit “Human Rights Discourses in the Migration Society” (MeDiMi). It examines how human rights ideas shape understandings of health and migration, and how these ideas influence decision-making and policy measures in international health. Key teaching initiatives include the GTE seminar “Medicine at the Margins of Society” and the Global Health focus curriculum. The service-learning project “Together Against Tuberculosis” has become part of the nationwide initiative no1lost, which promotes social-medical care for patients with tuberculosis in Germany. |
