The history of Canadian health care is marked by two enduring stories.

One is the creation of Medicare, providing health care to all Canadians; the other chronicles the history of ‘Indian hospitals’ and the continued health disparities of many Indigenous people.

Brock History Professor Maureen Lux will discuss the emergence of these two competing and contradictory narratives at the first Brock Talks of the fall on Wednesday, Sept. 19.

Lux’s latest book, Separate Beds: A History of Indian Hospitals in Canada, 1920-1980s, explores the experiences of patients and staff at Canada’s ‘Indian hospitals.’

“The history of ‘Indian hospitals’ or racially segregated health care in Canada helps us understand colonialism’s reach and the roots of health disparities in Canada,” Lux says.

The hospitals, which were understaffed and underfunded, intentionally isolated Indigenous people from the rest of Canadian society. Patients were subjected to coercion and medical experimentation.

Lux’s work was recognized with the 2017 Jason A. Hannah Medal and was named Best Book by the Canadian Historical Association in the Aboriginal History category in 2017.

The talk on Sept. 19 is the first in the 2018-19 series of Brock Talks. Held at the St. Catharines Public Library six times a year, each talk features a scholar from Brock’s Faculty of Humanities sharing their research and answering questions.  

“Brock Talks is an opportunity to share our research and teaching interests with a general audience and to showcase some of what we do in the Humanities at Brock,” says Associate Dean of Humanities Michael Carter.

“Just as importantly, members of the broader community have a chance to meet the scholars in their midst and learn about their research.”

The Faculty of Humanities and the St. Catharines Public Library have collaborated to offer Brock Talks since 2012. A complete list of current and past talks can be found on the Faculty’s website. Upcoming talks are also posted on the Faculty’s ExperienceBU and Facebook pages.

All talks are free and open to the public.

Brock Talks lecture series (all talks held at 7 p.m.):

• Sept. 19: Professor Maureen Lux, “Race, Medicine and the State: ‘Indian Hospitals’ in Canada”
• Oct. 30: Associate Professor Felipe Ruan, “Cervantes’ Captivity in Ottoman Algiers”
• Nov. 22: Professor Allison Glazebrook, “Working Women in Classical Athens
• Jan. 15: Associate Professor Donna Szoke, TBA
• Feb. 27: Professor Francine McCarthy, TBA
• March TBA