Quacks and Charlatans: The Hidden History of Medicine

Talks on Tuesdays is a live event series bringing big ideas, real experts, and curious minds together - at your favourite local venues. Think thought-provoking lectures, audience questions, and post-talk mingling over drinks and dinner.

This isn’t a uni lecture. It’s a social, intelligent night out.Come alone or with friends, leave with something to talk about.

Event Schedule:

6.30pm Arrival & Doors Open

7pm Lecuture Starts

7.45pm Q&A

8pm Talk Concludes

8.30pm Event Closes.

*Please arrive close to 6.30pm

A La Carte menu and full bar available throughout the night - pay as you go.

Your Topic:

Quacks and Charlatans: The Hidden History of Medicine

Throughout history, certain types of healers have been labelled ‘quacks’ or ‘charlatans’. From ‘doctors’ claiming that radioactive water cured tiredness, to healers who promised strange cure-alls for common colds (arsenic, anyone?), Western medicine has long tried to separate ‘real’ medicine from quackery. This lecture explores episodes of alternative and fraudulent healing in the hidden history of medicine from 1600 to today. It will ask: Why did people turn to quack doctors for treatment? How did past societies address the problems of quack or alternative medicine? Why does quack medicine persist today?

Your Speaker:

Dr Paige Donaghy is a historian who researches reproduction, medicine and sexuality. Originally from Brisbane, she recently moved to Melbourne to take up a position at The University of Melbourne, where she is a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow. She is currently working on a new book titled Pregnant Women’s Sexuality in Early Modern England, coming out in late 2025.