The workshop explores the intersections and overlaps of citizenship, race and health in the United States between the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. It will examine the importance of health and how it was negotiated and constructed in medical, cultural and political contexts by focusing on questions like: how were public health discourses intertwined with racial ideologies? How did ideas about health help shaping debates about citizenship during a time of social and political conflicts? The workshop will also look at how literary and cultural texts reflected these racialized understandings of health to answer these questions.

Organizers: Pauline Fischer, Nina Mackert, Jürgen Martschukat, Paul Skäbe

Target Group: Students, Teaching staff, Researchers

Date & Time: Friday, June 12 2026, 9.00 a.m.–10.00 a.m.:Paper Pauline Fischer/comment: Barbara Lüthi + discussion, 10.15 a.m.–11.15 a.m.:Paper Paul Skäbe/comment: Julia Engelschalt + discussion, 11.30 a.m.–12.30 p.m. Paper Alex Obermüller/ comment: Nina Mackert + discussion

Venue: SUB, Carl-von-Ossietzki Forum 

Registration: marianne.weis-elsner@uni-hamburg.de