Avila Professor Published for Research

Dr. Nancy Cervetti, professor of English and women’s studies, has an article forthcoming in the Journal of Medical Humanities entitled: “S. Weir Mitchell and His Snakes: Unraveling the "united web and woof of popular and scientific beliefs.”  The article focuses on Mitchell’s experimental medicine with venomous snakes in the context of the vivisection debates of the nineteenth century.

In the article Dr. Cervetti explores the socialized fear of snakes and their effect on the phobias commonly experienced in society.  S. Weir Mitchell, a prolific writer, neurologist, poet, and cultural icon, has been the focus of Dr. Cervetti’s scholarly research for over ten years.  In 2001 she received a NEH Fellowship to read and transcribe his correspondence, and she has also researched his civil war medicine with gunshot wounds and his controversial method of treatment, the rest cure, for women suffering from hysteria and neurasthenia.

 “The College of Humanities and Performing Arts is fortunate to have a professor of Dr. Cervetti’s stature. Her dedication of over ten years of research on S. Weir Mitchell, in addition to her numerous publications, are wonderful contributions to her students and to the campus community,” said Dr. Charlene Gould, Dean of the College of Humanities and Performing Arts.  Dr. Cervetti is currently working on a biography of Mitchell.