Beth Linker is a historian of medicine and disability. I teach and research at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of History and Sociology of Science.
My interest in medicine, disability, and the body came about long before my academic career. My unique upbringing and clinical experience as a physical therapist inform my historical research and writing.
My newest book, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America, considers how poor posture became a dreaded pathology in the early twentieth century, resulting in a widespread anti-slouching campaign. We can still see remnants of this effort in our everyday lives today–in our work chairs, in our Pilates classes, and in the stigmatization of those who deviate from accepted anatomical norms.
Books in order of publication:
War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America – 2011
Civil Disabilities: Citizenship, Membership, and Belonging – 2014
Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America – 2024
Oak Lawn Library Friends 