MSCA SHIPPAN (Shipping Pandemics) study day: «Prevention & Healing - Organising health at sea (17th-20th centuries)» (contributions by Benoît Pouget and Guillaume Linte)

Wednesday 13 May 2026 | University of Angers (MRGT, Germaine Tillion lecture hall)

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the decisive role played by transport systems in health crises, as well as the need for qualified and responsive healthcare personnel on an international scale. With this in mind, this study day is devoted to the challenges of health prevention and the practices of health professionals in a maritime environment, on board ships. In order to gain a better understanding of the circulation and transfer of practices, the discussions will cover both military and merchant navies, as well as both sailing and steam-powered fishing fleets. 

The format will be hybrid (face-to-face and distance learning); registration is required in both cases. via this form: here.

Find out more about the day's programme on the Hypothesis notebook SHIPPAN and at the end of this email under the signature.

Programme :

9.15am = Coffee/Tea - Welcome

9.45am = Introduction to the day - SHIPPAN report

Moderated by Yves Denéchère, University of Angers

10h
«Illnesses among seafarers in Nantes at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries: lessons from ship visits».»
Denis Le Guen: Doctor in modern history, associated with the TEMOS laboratory, UMR 9016

10h30
«Transoceanic travel and the health of seafarers in 18th-century France»
Guillaume Linte Junior Professor at the CNRS, attached to the MESOPOLHIS laboratory, UMR 7064

11h-11h15 = Coffee/tea break

Moderated by Rébecca Mathiot, Centre d'histoire de SciencesPo Paris

11h15
«Surviving at sea: food and health vulnerabilities in the 17th-century French navy.»
Océane Brebion: Independent researcher, associated with the IDEES laboratory, UMR6266

11h45
«Health and food for migrants on board transatlantic liners in the first half of the 19th century: sanitary framework, legislative framework and economic constraints».»
Jean-Baptiste Schneider : Doctor in contemporary history, associated with the IDEES laboratory, UMR6266

12.15pm-2pm = Lunch break

Moderated by François Drémeaux, University of Angers

14h
«Organise, if possible, a special room to store oilskins after fishing». Inspecting deep-sea fishing in the 1920s: caring for men and ships».»
Rébecca Mathiot: Doctoral student, Centre d'histoire de SciencesPo Paris

14h30
«Caring for people at sea in the 19th century. 
Medical innovations and naval nosopolitics before the microbiological turn».»
Benoit Pouget Senior Lecturer, SciencesPo Aix

15h
«Evolution of avitaminosis in naval crews from the 19th to the 20th century».» 
Dominique Jégaden: Doctor of Medicine. Honorary President of the French Society of Maritime Medicine

15h30-15h45 = Coffee/tea break

Moderation Benoit Pouget, SciencesPo Aix

15h45
«Healed on arrival. Care and convalescence of passengers and seafarers on board ocean liners (1860-1940)».»
François Drémeaux: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Angers - California State University, Sacramento

16h15
«Health on board French merchant ships, a look at the collections of French Lines & Compagnies».»
Véronique Harel: Director of the EPCC French Lines & Compagnies

4.45pm = Conclusion of the day