FAIRFIELD, Conn.—A Sacred Heart University assistant professor, David Luesink, has been selected to co-edit a book series focused on the history of health and healing in China.
Luesink is a historian of Chinese medicine. At Sacred Heart, he teaches classes on the history of medicine in China, history of science, East Asian history and modern and late imperial China, as well as general history classes.
“I am excited to be part of this new series of books on the history of health and healing, published jointly by Routledge and the Zhonghua Book Company,” Luesink said. “In the last 15 years, the amount of high-quality research on the history of medicine and health in China has been growing steadily, with major contributions in English and Chinese that have had an influence far beyond historians of medicine. Yet, scholars without the ability to read Chinese have been unable to review important research published only in that language.”
Luesink’s edited volume, China and the Globalization of Biomedicine (Rochester University Press, 2019), illustrates the global evolution of biomedicine, based on developments through the medical field in China between 1850 and 1950. Luesink’s research, both published and ongoing, highlights the significance of the history of anatomy as well as the laboratory research on plague in China.
“This series will completely transform the scope of the existing scholarship available to those without the ability to read Chinese,” Luesink said. “While some Chinese translations of important English books have been published elsewhere, I do not think it is hyperbolic to state that the wholesale translation of important Chinese works on disease, health and medicine into English will forever transform the field.”
“This series will enable medical historians, scientists, public health experts and the general reading public to access previously unavailable, world-class research,” Luesink said. “China played a significant role in creating globalized biomedicine in the past two centuries. This series will make China’s history of disease and health impossible to ignore.”
The two publishing partners will formulate a program called “The History of Health and Healing,” which will include input from international academics and esteemed Chinese scholars. The series will be dedicated to interdisciplinary books of medical science and social history.
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About Sacred Heart University
As the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, and one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., Sacred Heart University is a national leader in shaping higher education for the 21st century. SHU offers nearly 90 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its Fairfield, Conn., campus. Sacred Heart also has satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland and offers online programs. More than 9,000 students attend the University’s nine colleges and schools: Arts & Sciences; Communication, Media & the Arts; Social Work; Computer Science & Engineering; Health Professions; the Isabelle Farrington College of Education; the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology; the Dr. Susan L. Davis, R.N., & Richard J. Henley College of Nursing; and St. Vincent’s College. Sacred Heart stands out from other Catholic institutions as it was established and led by laity. The contemporary Catholic university is rooted in the rich Catholic intellectual tradition and the liberal arts, and at the same time cultivates students to be forward thinkers who enact change—in their own lives, professions and in their communities. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its Best 387 Colleges–2022 Edition, “Best Northeastern” and Best Business Schools–2021 Edition. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio station, WSHU, a Division I athletics program and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theatre. www.sacredheart.edu