Oral Histories of Mental Healthcare
Verusca Calabria explores oral history as a vital method to research histories of mental healthcare. In recent decades in the UK, interest in oral history as a research method has expanded, both as a
Imagination in the Archives of Mental Health Law
Reflecting upon the assumptions we make when dealing with legal documents, historian Janet Weston questions the ever-important role of the imagination for those working in archives of mental health law. Imagination always plays a
Socialites, Smallpox and Surgeons: Skincare in the Eighteenth Century
Historian Katherine Aske explores the origins of dermatology, the development of knowledge surrounding skin diseases in the eighteenth century, and the important contributions women have made to medical history. The history of skincare is
An Interior Perspective
Through a close reading of a single photograph from the 1980s, architectural historian Megan Brien demonstrates how the spatial dynamics and design features of a hospital ward shaped patient identities and behaviour. As Adrian
Pathologies, Punchlines and Power: The Medicalized Body, Humour and Art
Reflecting on their recent Confabulations event, researchers Laura Cowley, Christine Slobogin and Katie Snow question the relationship between humour and art within the critical medical humanities. What does art bring to, and how does
Writing Bodies, Making Strange: Surrealist Embodiment in Creative Practice
Zara-Louise Stubbs reflects upon a recent online workshop, which explored the female body as a site of surrealist reclamation through writing prompts and exercises. In May 2022, writer Jennifer Brough ran a workshop for
Making, Movement and Multidisciplinary Exchange: Reflecting on ‘Senses and Health/Care Environments’
Marie Allitt, Agnes Arnold-Forster, Harriet Barratt, Victoria Bates, Rebecka Fleetwood-Smith, and Clare Hickman reflect on the recent ‘Senses and Health/Care Environments’ conference, which took place in Bristol earlier this spring. In April 2022, the
Feeling your Dream Hospital: A creative workshop
Rebecka Fleetwood-Smith reflects upon the use of creative approaches within the ‘Feeling Your Dream Hospital’ workshop, part of the Sensing Spaces of Healthcare Project. The Sensing Spaces of Healthcare project involves using historical and
Seeing Wrinkles, Spotting Greys
Exploring the significance of looking closely, PhD researcher Caitlin Doley asks: how can studying visual representations of old age help the medical humanities? We often hears the lamentation that old age renders people invisible.
The Spring of Old Age
Historian Amie Bolissian reflects on the Northern Network for Medical Humanities Research Congress’s “Ageing” panel back in the spring of 2021. Throughout written history, European cultures have associated the changing seasons with stages of