Professor Treitel studies German-speaking Europe since 1800. She teaches courses on European history, world history, and Health Humanities.
Her research focuses on science, medicine, and popular culture. She has published on occultism and modernism; food, farming, and biopolitics; and health beliefs and behaviors. Her current research investigates the puzzle of health consciousness. Health consciousness is that voice in your head that tells you to brush your teeth, exercise, and eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. How did it get there? Treitel’s book uses the German case to explore a group of movements—medical enlightenment, popular hygienic education, Lebensreform (life reform), health communication, and wellness—that worked hard over the past 200 years to put it there. Here is a recent interview about the project.
Treitel enjoys collaborative and transdisciplinary work. In 2015, she helped introduce Medical Humanities as a field of study to her university. Today, she co-leads an international group of Health Humanities scholars with Sari Altschuler (Northeastern University).
learn more about Corinna Treitel