Paula Larsson
Research Topic
A History of Anti-Vaccination in Canada, 1867-1960
I research the history of vaccination, with a particular focus on anti-vaccination movements in the past. Casting a critical eye at the history of vaccines demonstrates that hesitancy and vaccine resistance are informed by social identity and perpetuated by underlying social tensions.
Supervisor: Professor Mark Harrison
OTHER RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Vaccine History, Canadian History, Colonial History; Oxford History; British Imperialism; History of Eugenics; History of Social Darwinism; Indigenous History
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECTS:
Uncomfortable Oxford:
I am one of the founders of Uncomfortable Oxford - an organisation that aims at increasing public engagement with 'uncomfortable' aspects of Oxford's past. The project runs walking tours, public lectures, and other events that address legacies of imperialism, discrimination, and inequality in the city and university.
Oxford and Empire:
I worked on developing the Oxford and Empire project in its early beginnings, conducting research, collecting content and designing the webpage.
PUBLICATIONS:
Larsson, Paula, "COVID-19 Anti-vaxxers use the same arguments from 135 years ago," The Conversation (Oct. 04, 2020), https://theconversation.com/covid-19-anti-vaxxers-use-the-same-arguments-from-135-years-ago-145592#comment_2367453
Larsson, Paula, "Anti-Asian Racism during coronavirus: How the language of disease produces hate and violence," The Conversation (Mar. 31, 2020): https://theconversation.com/anti-asian-racism-during-coronavirus-how-the-language-of-disease-produces-hate-and-violence-134496
Larsson, Paula, Diana Mansell, Frank W. Stahnisch, eds. Bedside to Community: Fifty years of Contributions to the Health of Albertans by the University of Calgary. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2019.
Larsson, Paula, “A History of Aboriginal Health Research within the Faculty (Cumming School) of Medicine, University of Calgary, 1966 – 2016,” in Bedside to Community: Fifty years of Contributions to the Health of Albertans by the University of Calgary, Paula Larsson, Diana Mansell, Frank W. Stahnisch (editors). Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2019.
Larsson, Paula. "Lessons in Race: Curriculum in Indian Residential Schools, 1930-1950." History of Intellectual Culture 11, 1 (2014-16).
Larsson, Paula. “Escaping the Asylum: Patient Resistance at the Toronto Asylum for the Insane, 1900-1940,” Proceedings of the 2013 History of Medicine Days Conference. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.
