معرفی
Susan Lawrence is a Professor and Department Head in the History department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, within the College of Arts and Sciences. Her primary specialization is the History of Medicine, with a focus on medical ethics, body donation practices, and the intersections of law, privacy, and historical research. She holds a BA in Mathematics from Pomona College (1977), and MA and PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Toronto (1985).
Her research spans topics such as 18th-century medical education in London, Civil War-era Washington, D.C. (via the digital project Civil War Washington), and the evolving ethics of body donation in American medical institutions. She is currently co-authoring a book on the cultural and legal history of whole-body donation in the U.S. with Susan E. Lederer.
Lawrence has taught courses on the History of Medicine and World Civilizations since 1500 at UT Knoxville. Prior to this role, she held faculty positions at The Ohio State University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Iowa, and Ball State University. Her work frequently bridges historical scholarship with contemporary ethical dilemmas, such as privacy rights in medical research archives.
Her publications include Privacy and the Past: Research, Law, Archives, Ethics (2016), Civil War Washington: History, Place and Digital Scholarship (2015), and Charitable Knowledge: Hospital Practitioners and Pupils in Eighteenth Century London (1996). She has contributed to journals such as the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences and the Annals of Iowa.
Lawrence’s academic service includes leadership roles in the History department and engagement in digital humanities projects. Her research often highlights marginalized voices, such as the case of Harriet Cole in her 2023 article examining racial violence and medical specimen use.
