Emily Sinclair reviews Andrew Russell’s Anthropology of Tobacco: Ethnographic adventures in non-human worlds (Routledge: 2019). In his Anthropology of Tobacco Andrew Russell takes a refreshing look at the history of this plant, both spirit and
Wendy Lowe takes a look at a new edited collection on shame, and explores its relevance to the medical humanities. In some ways, because Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Shame deals with a cultural tendency to
David Ellis reflects on ADHD and the language – and judgements – around it. ‘But you said for me to write a couple of lines’, I protest as the teacher ushers me out of
What do objects from a bygone age tell us about epidemics today? Since opening in June, the exhibition Contagious! reflects on the history of pandemics, including patients’ painful experiences, coping and containment strategies, and examples of ground-breaking medical research. Ruben Verwaal reports on his recent visit.
Sierra Moreno reviews Kathleen Béres Rogers’ Creating Romantic Obsession: Scorpions in the Mind (Palgrave Macmillan: 2019) In Francisco Goya’s 1799 etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, a slumped figure is assailed by a cloud
Being a patient today increasingly means being an image. Liz Orton’s new artist’s book, Every Body is an Archive, takes the medical image as a site of critical enquiry to explore questions of ownership, language and power within the clinical encounter. Polyphony editor Fiona Johnstone met with Liz Orton to talk about the book, the centrality of image-making to medical practice, and how right now is a radical moment for the clinical gaze.
Marie Allitt reviews Alan Bleakley’s Educating Doctors’ Senses Through the Medical Humanities: “How do I look?” (Routledge: 2020). Building on many years as professor of medical humanities in medical education, Alan Bleakley’s Educating Doctors’ Senses Through
Karen Rushton, Borough Archivist at Valence House Museum London, introduces the Wellcome Trust funded “Building Becontree” project, reflecting on the estate’s history and significance at the time of today’s global pandemic and the relevance
Lena Maria Lorenz reviews Nathan H. White & Christopher C.H. Cook’s Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilience: Pastoral and clinical insights (Routledge: 2020). The editors of this innovative volume of fifteen essays justly belief that
Laura Donald reflects on invisible health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. I live in a Glasgow tenement building whose inhabitants pride themselves on their neighbourliness. Often I mute the residents’ WhatsApp group, sometimes for
