Emotion, Mission, Architecture

An innovative history of medical mission from the perspective of the history of emotions

Raises important historical questions about the process of civilising emotions in Christian missionary contexts
Utilises archival research in the UK and Canada, and field work in Persia
Weaves together the history of emotions and Christian missions with the history of colonial built environments and colonial medicine to bring new insight to the history of medicine and the history of architecture
Highlights and examines the involvement of female missionaries in the design process of mission buildings, engaging concepts of feminist historiography
Focuses on Iran/Persia to extend our understanding of the transnational dimensions of architectural history, medical history and the history of emotions

Missionary medicine flourished during the period of high European imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was considered the best and surest method to overcome the distrust of and gain access to the indigenous population in the so-called Muslim World. Through studying the medical activities and infrastructures of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in Persia and north-western British India, and building upon existing works on missionaries in the Middle East and British India, this book examines the practice of obtaining trust.

A synthesis of Christian mission history, architectural history, emotions history and history of medicine and empire, Emotion, Mission, Architecture raises broader historical questions about the process of mobilising and regulating emotions in the Christian missionary contexts contributing in turn to discussions on hybridity, missionary and local encounters, women's agency and the interactions between mission and empire.