Princeton Professor to Speak at Miami About the Politics of Pain

BY EMMA NOLTE

Miami University journalism student

OXFORD, Ohio — Princeton University Professor of history and public affairs, Keith Wailoo, will present “The Politics of Pain,” Thursday night as part of the Altman lecture series at Miami University.

The 2016-2017 Altman Program, through Miami’s Humanities Center, is focusing on medicine and the humanities. The lecture series is made up of professors from various universities who will cover medicine as it relates to various aspects of culture including art, history, philosophy, politics and literature.

According to Sarah Siff, the assistant director at the Miami Humanities Center, the lecture will discuss his book, "Pain: A Political History." The book talks about disability insurance and Medicare, as well as political approaches to when the government should pay for treatment of pain.

Two figures discussed in the book are Jack Kevorkian, who supported the right to assisted suicide, and Rush Limbaugh, a talk show host who was addicted to OxyCotin.“One of the interesting things the book points out is that depending on who you are, what you say about your pain, is either viewed sympathetically or is viewed with scorn,” said Siff.

The Altman Program looks at medicine in relation to society, which Wailoo explores with modern medical policies and politics.

“The historiography of drugs and healthcare in the United States is an important issue right now because there are changes in the options of our healthcare system," said Siff. “He says what other people are sort of arguing against in history currently, which is that many of these [medical] policies are politically motivated and they’re grounded in these moral consumptions.”

Wailoo’s connection of medicine to the political and social state of America will lead to a deeper understanding of the theme of the Altman Program, medicine and the humanities.

The lecture is at 7 p.m. Thursday in 152 Shideler Hall. It is open to the public.