Profile
Helen MacDonald is an Honorary Senior Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. She explores the cultural histories of body acquisition and use for transplants, dissections, post-mortem examinations, and museums.
Helen is presently investigating the modern era of 'spare part' surgery as it was performed in England and Scotland between 1950 and 1990. Articles from this project published in international journals include: ‘Crossing the Rubicon: Death in “The Year of the Transplant”’ (Medical History, 2017); ‘Guarding the Public Interest: England’s Coroners and Organ Transplants, 1960-1975’ (Journal of British Studies, 2015); ‘Conscripting Organs: “Routine Salvaging” or Bequest? The Historical Debate in Britain, 1961-75’ (Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 2015); and ‘Considering Death: The Third British Heart Transplant, 1969’ (Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 2014).
Helen is the author of the award-winning book Human Remains: Dissection and its Histories (Yale University Press, 2006) and Possessing the Dead: The Artful Science of Anatomy (Melbourne University Press, 2010). She is currently editing A Cultural History of Death in the Age of Empire, one of a six-volume series on the history of death from antiquity to the present and contracted to Bloomsbury, London (General Editor Professor Douglas Davies, Durham University). Helen is writing a new book which examines transplantation’s experimental years.
Find out more about Helen MacDonald's experience
Helen MacDonald's highlights
Helen MacDonald's selected work
Spare Parts: The Cultural History Of Organ Transplantation
Research Grant
Crossing the Rubicon: Death in 'The Year of the Transplant'
Journal article
Possessing The Dead, The Artful Science Of Anatomy
Research Grant
The Hanged Man and the Body Thief: Finding Lives in a Museum Mystery
Journal article
The Transplant Imaginary: Mechanical Hearts, Animal Parts, and Moral Thinking in Highly Ex..
Journal article
Guarding the Public Interest: England's Coroners and Organ Transplants, 1960-1975
Journal article
Helen MacDonald's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 2 most recent projects by Helen MacDonald.
Project Types
2
Research Grant
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 44 most recent scholarly works by Helen MacDonald.
Honours, Awards and Fellowships
Victorian Premier's Literary Award for a First Book of History
Ernest Scott Prize, Shortlist
Max Kelly Medal
Credentials
Positions
Positions
Honorary
Historical And Philosophical Studies
Member, Editorial Board
Editorial Board, Australian Historical Studies
Member
Australian Historical Association
Member, Advisory Board
Advisory Board, Writing Centre for Scholars and Researchers
Education
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Melbourne
Master of Arts (honours)
University of Melbourne
Bachelor of Arts (honours)
Monash University