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Health Humanities Centre Visiting Research Fellow, February 2026.
Camille Jaccard holds a PhD in history and philosophy (University of Lausanne, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne). She works at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Lausanne and collaborates with the Institut d’histoire du temps présent (Paris 8–CNRS). Her research focuses on the history and epistemology of the medical and human sciences. She is particularly interested in the development of knowledge about language disorders and in the transnational history of child psychiatry. Her book Paroles folles dans la psychiatrie du XIXe siècle was published by Hermann in Paris (2024). Within the network R-EVE (Refugier, Enfance, Violence, Exile) and in collaboration with La Grange – Centre for Arts and Sciences, she develops research-creation projects in mental health and engages in science communication activities on the uses of children’s drawings in the human sciences.
Project summary
The project aims to document the history of observation, screening and treatment techniques in child psychiatry from the late nineteenth century to the 1960s, with particular attention to the use of children’s drawings and projective tests, such as the Rorschach psychological diagnosis. It explores the gradual construction of knowledge and practices concerning the child at the intersection of medicine, pedagogy, psychology, and social work, in a context shaped by major social issues: children in care, refugees, juvenile delinquents, or those failing at school. Drawing on scientific literature and clinical archives produced in consultation settings in Switzerland, France, and Great Britain, which serve as case studies, the project traces how professionals developed specific tools to investigate the psyche and inner world of children, who were often little or not yet verbal. The approach combines material history, epistemology, and the study of international circulations, while also questioning power relations between disciplines, gender dynamics among professionals, and the social and political uses of these practices.
