Theme: European Diseases, Literary Artists, and Medicine

• Date & Time: May 16, 2026 (Sat) 14:00–16:30
• Venue: Liang Kuo-Shu Conference Hall, 3F, College of Social Sciences, National Taiwan University
• Organizers: EUTW Centre, NTU EU Centre of Excellence, NTU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (European Languages Group)
• Co-organizers: European Community Studies Association – Taiwan; Asociación Taiwanesa de Hispanistas (ATH)
• Co-funded by the European Union

Many diseases — and the remedies named after them — trace their origins to Europe or carry the names of European places and people. Some commemorate the scientists and physicians whose discoveries saved lives (Alzheimer's, for instance); others bear names with no real link to their source (e.g. the "Spanish" flu). The result is a popular medical vocabulary handed down across generations whose meaning is often lost.

The 34th EUTW Forum brings together three distinguished scholar-physicians to unpack this European medical heritage:

• Lee Fei-Peng — "A modern otologist's reading of Van Gogh's and Beethoven's ear ailments and their impact on artistic creation"
• Wu Ming-Shiang — "The founders of germ theory: from the microscope to the revolution of modern medicine," tracing two centuries of relay research across the Netherlands, France, and Germany that equipped humanity with vaccines, antibiotics, antiseptics, and epidemic control even in the face of Covid-19
• Li Kang-Yuan — "From the burning of the Romantic soul to the rebellion of the monstrous body": tuberculosis and lung cancer as successive century-long threats interwoven through European arts and sciences, and how lung cancer — Taiwan's leading cause of death for 43 consecutive years — is at once romantic and lethal.

Moderator: Prof. Chang Shu-Ying (NTU FLL; Convener of the EUTW Forum) Panelists: Lee Fei-Peng, Wu Ming-Shiang, Li Kang-Yuan

More details: https://ntuluisacourses.com/eutw_forum/