2022 Osler Day Festivities

The Osler Library is back! After four years as guests of ROAAr colleagues in the McLennan Library Building, the Osler Library is again operating out of its home on the third floor of the McIntyre Medical Sciences Building. To celebrate, we have organized a set of events around Osler Day to highlight the gift that Sir William Osler made to McGill and to the medical profession as a whole:

  • Tuesday 1 November 2022, 6-8pm: Medical student research symposium, featuring participants in the Pam and Rolando Del Maestro William Osler Medical Student Essay Awards and the 2022 Molina Foundation Medical Student Osler Library Research Awards. Virtual event
  • Wednesday 2 November, 6pm (Osler Day!), enjoy the Osler Lecture, sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Social Studies of Medicine. Dr. Michele Goodwin (University of California, Irvine) will talk about “Policing the womb in the wake of the American judiciary.” In-person event.
  • Thursday 3 November, 9am-1pm. Joseph W. Lella Symposium, featuring a number of speakers sharing their thoughts about Osler, librarianship, and importance of the humanities in medicine. Hybrid event.

You may have noticed the reference to Osler Day in the opening paragraph. What is Osler Day? Typically, it is when the Osler Library holds its Annual Meeting of the Board of Curators. It is also a day when the McGill Medical Students’ Osler Society collaborates with the Osler Library and the Department of Social Studies of Medicine to support major annual events. In the afternoon, the Osler Society and Osler Library invite medical students and members of the public to join the awards committee in listening to the presentations given by the three finalists in the essay contest. The events that take place during the evening of Osler Day have traditionally been organized by the Osler Society and the Department of Social Studies of Medicine: the Osler Lectureship, followed immediately by the Osler Banquet. This year, we are spreading out Osler Day activities over two days and adding a symposium on day three.


Virtual event | Osler Student Essay Evening (1 November at 6PM)

The Library’s reopening events will begin with a celebration of student work, 6-8pm Tuesday 1 November, online: the Medical student research symposium, featuring participants in the Pam and Rolando Del Maestro William Osler Medical Student Essay Awards and recipients of the Molina Foundation Medical Student Osler Library Research Awards. Learn about humanities research conducted by McGill Medical Students! The presentations have special importance for the essayists, since their presentations will be factored into the final results to determine this year’s award winners. RSVP required.

Join us for following talks:

Del Maestro Family William Osler Medical Student Essay Awards contestants:

  • “Concessions, Coercions, and Coveted Conversions: Papal Injunctions against Jewish Physicians in the Renaissance.”
  • “Beyond the Origins of the Institute Philippe-Pinel: Exploring the Relationship between Forensic Psychiatry and the Deinstitutionalization Movement in Quebec.”
  • “Optimizing Global Food Security for a Sustainable and Healthy Tomorrow.”
  • “On the Presence of Unaccounted Bias: The Saga of Samuel George Morton’s Skull Collection and Race.”

Molina Foundation Medical Student Osler Library Research Awards:

  • Saman Arfaie, “Leonardo da Vinci’s Medical Library: Mining the Secrets of Genius, and Creativity.”
  • Ali Fazlollahi, “Passing the Torch: Education During the Golden Age of Neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute.”

On campus event | 45th Annual Osler Lectureship: Policing The Womb In the Wake of the American Judiciary with Michele Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, UCI (2 November at 6PM)

Location: McIntyre Building, Charles F. Martin Amphitheatre (3655 promenade Sir William Osler, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y6)

On Wednesday 2 November, 6pm, Charles F. Martin Amphitheatre, McIntyre Medical Sciences Building, our colleagues in the Department of Social Studies of Medicine are hosting the annual Osler Lectureship. Come and listen to Professor Michele Goodwin talk about “Policing The Womb In the Wake of the American Judiciary.” Professor Goodwin will address the rising tensions involving reproductive freedom in the United States. Starting with the recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, she exposes the errors in the decision and ultimately the opportunistic reading of American history by the Court’s majority. She will then turn to the current state of affairs in American reproductive health, including girls and women fleeing their home states to make it to safety or sanctuary states, but also how those efforts are being targeted and potentially criminalized. Professor Goodwin will conclude by pointing out what’s next to ensure reproductive freedom for all persons.


Hybrid event | Professor Joseph W. Lella Symposium (3 November from 9AM to 1PM)

Location: McIntyre Medical Building, Meakins Amphitheatre (3655 promenade Sir William Osler, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y6)

On Thursday 3 November, 9am-1pm, we look forward to seeing you in person (Meakins Amphitheatre, McIntyre Medical Sciences Building 521) or virtually for the Professor Joseph W. Lella Symposium, featuring a plenary lecture by McGill’s Trenholm Dean of Libraries, Dr. Guylaine Beaudry. For those joining in person, light refreshments will follow in the Osler Library. Please indicate how you plan to attend in the RSVP form.

Full list of speakers confirmed for the symposium:

  • Professor Margaret Lock, “Musings on Joseph Lella: Colleague and Friend.”
  • Professor Bernard Brais (recorded video), “Remembering Joseph Lella as Sir William Osler: A Student’s Recollection.”
  • Brendan Ross, “A Journey through Medical School with the Osler Library as Companion.”
  • Dr. Rolando Del Maestro, “The Osler Gift, the Beginning: Deed, Wills and Memorandums.”
  • Jeremy Norman, “The Organization of the Bibliotheca Osleriana Catalogue & its Influence.”
  • Dr. Guylaine Beaudry, “Fiat Lux at McGill: Integrating Traditional Library Services and Digital Technology for Current and Future Generations of Students and Researchers.”
  • Dr. Mario Molina, “W.W. Francis and the Opening of a Library.”
  • Dr. Milton Roxanas, “My Personal Journey with Osler.”
  • Dr. Vivien Lane, “5 Significant Women in Osler’s Life.”
  • Dr. Maia Woolner, “Finding Time at the Osler Library.”

More information.

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