Michael Sappol

Michael Sappol is a visiting researcher at the Department of History of Science and Ideas at Uppsala University. Originally from Queens, NY, he now resides in Stockholm, Sweden. His academic career has been primarily focused on the visual culture and performance of medicine, science, and technology, with particular attention to representations of the human body.

His research interests span a wide range including history of medicine, science and technology; the body; the self; film studies; history of photography; history of anatomy; history of the museum; media studies; cultural studies; queer studies; gender studies; modernity; history of the diagram; and print culture. His current projects focus on Anatomy's photography: Objectivity, showmanship and the reinvention of the anatomical image, 1860-1960 and Queer anatomies: Medical illustration, perverse desire and the epistemology of the anatomical closet.

Sappol's recent publications reveal a consistent focus on the intersection of visual culture and medical history, particularly examining how scientific illustrations function as cultural artifacts that reflect and shape societal understandings of the body. His work frequently engages with queer theory and challenges conventional interpretations of historical medical imagery, as seen in his influential 2021 article on Joseph Maclise's anatomical illustrations.

His scholarly output demonstrates expertise across multiple disciplines, connecting historical medical practices with contemporary theoretical frameworks. Sappol has published extensively in journals including British Art Studies, Issues in Science & Technology, and Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.

Before joining Uppsala University, Sappol had a distinguished career outside the traditional university system, serving as scholar-in-residence and curator-historian at the National Library of Medicine in the United States. During this time, he curated numerous exhibitions and websites for the general public, establishing himself as a prominent figure in the public presentation of medical history.