Nashville 2017

  • Skyline of Nashville

The American Association for the History of Medicine will hold its 90th annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, May 4-7, 2017 at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel.

Advanced registration is CLOSED.  You will be able to register on site in Nashville.

Final Program

Abstracts

Meeting Hotel

The meeting hotel is the Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown, located at 623 Union Street, Nashville, TN 37219.

The conference room rate is $214 plus tax. To make reservations online, please click here.

For telephone reservations, call 615-259-2000 and be sure to mention the AAHM to secure the discounted rate. This rate will be available through 5PM CST on April 3rd or until all rooms in the block have been reserved.

There are also a limited number of rooms reserved for students, retirees, and independent scholars at the Holiday Inn Express, located at 920 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 (615-244-0150). The AAHM’s room rate is $199 plus tax.

For attendees who need a more economical option, dormitory-style lodging is available at the Scarritt-Bennett Conference Center, 1008 19th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212.  Individual rooms with a shared bath are available for $88.94, including tax, on a first come, first served basis.  Call 615-340-7500 to make reservations; no online reservations. Those choosing this option would need to take a short bus or Uber ride to the hotel.

Program

The Program Committee for AAHM 2017 has put together one of the most diverse programs in our organization’s history! It will be more global than ever, with many contributions moving beyond the borders of North America and Europe. In addition to over eighty individual papers and a variety of lunch panels, it will feature a poster section and nearly twenty symposia. As an experiment this year we have scheduled all of the four-paper sessions on Sunday, which has allowed us to pack the weekend with sessions, lunch panels, informal gatherings, and a party, and still manage to have short breaks several times a day!

Mobile App

The official conference mobile app is back for a second year. Our Guidebook guide will again include local maps, information about restaurants and places of interest, and the ability to create a personal conference itinerary. New this year is the addition of social media integration – you’ll be able to use the app to engage with other attendees, share ideas, and help to build the AAHM community!

Guidebook is now available!

First download and install the main Guidebook app. Then open the app and search for “American Association for the History of Medicine 2017”, select the guide, and hit the “get this guide” button. After a small download completes, the guide will be saved on your device, allowing you to access features including a conference schedule, social media integration, and activity and dining suggestions!

Graduate Students

The graduate student happy hour will be held on Thursday, May 4 from 8 to 10 at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium. Snacks and a drink or two will be provided, just RSVP with $5 when you register. Recent graduates are welcome too!

Book Exhibit

B & L Rootenberg Rare Books

University of Chicago Press

Johns Hopkins University Press

McGill-Queen’s University Press

Oxford University Press

Palinurus Antiquarian Books

University of Pittsburgh Press

Rutgers University Press

Webb Dordick

University of Rochester Press/Boydell & Brewer

The Scholar’s Choice

Cambridge University Press

Adam Matthew Digital

Tours

We hope that you’ll join us on one of this year’s AAHM-sponsored tours! Both will be held on the afternoon of Thursday, May 4.

Tour 1. Meharry Medical College Tour: Thursday, May 4, 1-5pm. This tour will take you to  , one of three historically black colleges in Nashville. Christyne M. Douglas, MLIS, the archivist of Meharry’s Medical College Library, and venerable storyteller Henry Atwater from the Department of Student Life, have partnered to offer you an unforgettable tour of the college’s Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Graduate Studies. The tour will take you on a journey through Meharry’s history from its inception in 1876 up to the present day. It will culminate with a visit to the College Archives, which house class bulletins, photographs, institutional records, artifacts, and personal papers documenting this history.

Tour 2. Nashville City Cemetery and Tennessee State Museum: Thursday, May 4, 1:30-4pm. This tour, led by Ashley Layhew, an Educational Specialist at the Museum, will begin at the Nashville City Cemetery, which opened in 1822. Of special interest to medical historians are the graves of 19 cholera victims who died in 1831 while serving sentences at the penitentiary. Next, the tour will move to the State Museum, where Ms. Layhew will display a curated selection of medical artifacts and talk about her experiences as a public historian. This discussion will focus on the opportunities and challenges of pursuing a passion for medical history while working at a state museum.

Transportation

The Sheraton has contracted with local taxi operators to offer a flat fee of $25 from Nashville International Airport to the hotel. Depending on the day and time when your flight arrives, Uber may be a marginally cheaper option. Alternatively, Nashville MTA offers bus service from the airport to downtown via the   for $1.70. If you’re planning to drive, the hotel charges $31 per day for self-parking and $34 per day for valet. Both rates include unlimited in and out privileges. Additional details on parking at the Sheraton are available here.

Bus transportation from the airport to the Sheraton is quite easy and costs only $1.70. Go to http://www.nashvillemta.org/. Click on “Plan a Trip,” and then type in “Nashville Int Airport” (from) and “Sheraton Downtown” (to) and the time you expect to depart from the airport. The downtown bus stop is at Music City Central, which is a short walk from the hotel.

Nashville’s Sights and Sounds

There’s no shortage of things to do during a spring weekend in Nashville. Check out this guide for some of our favorite places around town.

Dining in Nashville

There are many options for places to eat around the Sheraton.  See this restaurant guide for details.