Durbach, Nadja 1971–

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Durbach, Nadja 1971–

PERSONAL: Born 1971. Education: Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES: Home—Salt Lake City, UT. Office—Department of History, University of Utah, Carlson Hall, 380 S. 1400 E., Rm. 00211, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: University of Utah, Salt Lake City, associate professor of history.

WRITINGS:

Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in England, 1853–1907, Duke University Press (Durham, NC), 2005.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A work on Victorian English freak shows.

SIDELIGHTS: Historian Nadja Durbach has served as an associate professor of history at the University of Utah, teaching classes in British history and the history of women and gender. Her research focuses primarily on British history and the history of the body, with particular interest in the Victorian period. Durbach's first book, Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in England, 1853–1907, analyzes the movement against vaccination that took place in England during the latter half of the nineteenth century, following the institution of the mandatory smallpox vaccination. Durbach believes that the movement rose from an underlying issue of how the safety of the body related to laws enacted by the government. She examines the question within the broader context of attitudes and debates during that period regarding medical treatment and whether it was appropriate for the state to intervene to this extent in the lives of its citizens. Dan Malleck, in a review for History: Review of Books, concluded that Durbach's effort is "an accessible work that should appeal to a broad range of readers. Its conclusions, comparing Victorian anti-vaccination with contemporary concerns and movements against vaccination makes the book of use also to students of contemporary health politics." Susan Pedersen, reviewing for the London Review of Books Online, found Bodily Matters to be a "timely and absorbing book."