Why Not Vaccinate? Some Historical Answers

Fri Mar 06 2026 at 05:00 pm to 06:00 pm UTC+00:00

St Anne's College | Oxford

TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities
Publisher/HostTORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities
Why Not Vaccinate? Some Historical Answers
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“Immunity and Humanities” Lecture: Elena Conis (Berkeley)
About this Event

Why Not Vaccinate? Some Historical Answers

Launch of the “Immunity and the Humanities” Program


Hesitancy toward vaccination has been a constant since the practice’s inception at the end of the eighteenth century, yet the mid-twentieth century introduced a complex paradox: the simultaneous rise of vaccine skepticism and the mass acceptance of compulsory childhood immunization. This presentation examines how historical trends in religious, political, and secular objections to vaccination have persisted and mutated over the last 200 years. It will describe the impact of modern social drivers—including shifting gender roles, environmental concerns, economic imperatives, and the valuation of children—on vaccination discourse from the latter-twentieth century to today. This historical contextualization will offer insight into how today’s vaccination resistance and rejection both mirror and depart from the past.

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

St Anne's College, 56 Woodstock Road, Oxford, United Kingdom

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