🏛️ 📚 Read this Open Letter! @harrietbarratt.bsky.social @drfijohnstone.bsky.social & @coreenanne.bsky.social respond to the recent Wellcome report on the use of archives, manuscripts and material cultures in health research. medhumsplatform.org/open-letter-...

What kind of reader are you? On #WorldBookDay, take a deep dive into the mysteries of the reading imagination with @thereaderbank.bsky.social 👉 readerbank.org 🧵

The January edition of our e-bulletin has landed in inboxes! 📨 It's full of information on fantastic schemes that are closing soon, a variety of upcoming events and news from the Discovery Research Platform and the Institute for Medical Humanities! 🗞️ Read it here: mailchi.mp/5135c4d5e0de...

IMH newsletter: January 2026

News & updates from the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University.

mailchi.mp

We're pleased to announce this collection of contributions to The Polyphony from attendees at the 2025 International PhD School on Queer Methodologies in Medical Humanities, which took place in Durham in March 2025. 📖 Read the collection 👇 thepolyphony.org/category/col...

PhD School 2025: Queer Methodologies in Medical Humanities – the polyphony

Conversations across the medical humanities

thepolyphony.org

Last week we were delighted to welcome over 50 attendees to our Creative Facilitation event, where we discussed how creative facilitation has been used in a variety of different organisational settings. Read our event round-up and testimonials👇 medhumsplatform.org/creative-fac...

Creative Facilitation: Beyond the Institute for Medical Humanities

Find out how creative facilitation is being used in teaching, with communities, in research settings and clinical practice outside IMH.

medhumsplatform.org

A major intervention in the field of dream studies has just been published, edited by Marco Bernini & @aldersonday.bsky.social. 'Dreams, Narrative and Liminal Cognition' is a collection of essays shedding light on the experiential qualities of dreams 💤 Read more: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...

New volume of essays on dreams and dreaming

A major intervention in the field of dream studies has just been published, edited by Marco Bernini and Ben Alderson-Day from our Institute for Medical Humanities.

durham.ac.uk

Thrilled to finally be holding a physical copy of Art and the Critical Medical Humanities 📘 Co-edited with Allison Morehead and Imogen Wiltshire, this book has been a true labour of love.

2025 may be winding down but our events calendar is not! 📆 From reading groups to seminars, online talks to in-person conversations, there is plenty going on at the IMH throughout the rest of November and December. Read our latest newsletter to find out more 👇 mailchi.mp/e9a1d07e9700...

IMH Newsletter November 2025 (Events)

Upcoming events from the Institute for Medical Humanities at Durham University.

mailchi.mp

@katharinemurphy.bsky.social introduces the @readingbodies.bsky.social takeover and discusses what historical discourses of illness in European literatures and cultures contribute to the medical humanities. thepolyphony.org/2025/10/20/h...

Historical Narratives of Illness in the Multilingual Medical Humanities

Katharine Murphy introduces the Reading Bodies takeover and discusses what historical discourses of illness in European literatures and cultures contribute to the medical humanities.

thepolyphony.org

"Rather than asking why specific communities are ‘hard to reach’, perhaps the real question is – have they simply been easier to ignore?" Rianna Raymond-Williams discusses 'Unboxing', a creative elicitation tool she developed for her doctoral study. thepolyphony.org/2025/10/17/e...

A Creative Approach to Engaging Black Caribbean Women in Research

Rianna Raymond-Williams discusses ‘Unboxing’, a methodology taking reproductive health research to Black Caribbean women.

thepolyphony.org

New publication! Our v. own @beccajackson.bsky.social discusses the racial history of the Apgar Score – a score assigned to infants one minute after birth. Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/the-apgar-sc...

There's plenty of news in our Discovery Research Platform's October e-bulletin - from new research themes and publications, to reflections on A Wheely Workshop, Narrative Practice and Curating Cultural Heritage events 📖 Read it here 👉 mailchi.mp/300a7e52f6b3...

IMH newsletter: October 2025

News & updates from the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University.

mailchi.mp

Join us on 6th November for our annual Research Cabaret! An evening of live music 🎶 poetry 💬 dance 🕺💃 and chaos 🎉 exploring what it means to live between the lines. Featuring Durham IMH researchers and local performers! Reserve your FREE ticket here 🎟️👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/between-th...

The Big Survey is now live! It has been such a privilege to get to work on this with such a wonderful, inspiring team at @actionforme.bsky.social, including our brilliant Patient and Public Involvement Group, made up of people with lived experience of ME and Long Covid.

Action for ME@actionforme.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Our 2025 Big Survey is now open! 🎉 For more information, our FAQs, and to take part, head to our web page: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-campaigns/our-research-work/big-survey/ Thank you for supporting our research💙 🤝in collaboration with @durhamimh.bsky.social @kacheston.bsky.social

ME and ME-like symptoms affect approximately 1.35 million people in the UK. Find out how @kacheston.bsky.social, from our Department of Sociology and @durhamimh.bsky.social, is collaborating with @actionforme.bsky.social to understand the impact of this condition: www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Excited to welcome @danielpjones.bsky.social, who joins us as a Bridging Fellow in the Moving Bodies Lab and @dusportexsci.bsky.social. Find out more about Daniel's work on embodied experiences of Tourette Syndrome & the development of creative, inclusive research methods 🤩

Introducing Daniel P. Jones: New Bridging Fellow in the Moving Bodies Lab

Find out more about new Bridging Fellow Daniel in our interview exploring his research and interests.

medhumsplatform.org

We are pleased to welcome Xiao Ge, joining our Discovery Research Platform as a Bridging Fellow in the Narrative Practices Lab and @languagesdurham.bsky.social 🤩 Read more about Xiao's work on reframing postpartum well-being in this interview 👇 medhumsplatform.org/introducing-...

Introducing Xiao Ge: New Bridging Fellow in the Narrative Practices Lab

Discover more about New Bridging Fellow Xiao Ge in our interview about her research and interests.

medhumsplatform.org

A warm welcome to Michelle Reeve, who joins our Discovery Research Platform as the Digital and Communications Officer! We're looking forward to working with you, Michelle! medhumsplatform.org/welcome-to-m...

Welcome to Michelle Reeve

A warm welcome to Michelle Reeve, who joins the Discovery Research Platform in a maternity cover role as our Digital and Communications Officer.

medhumsplatform.org

#Readerbank is back at @edbookfest.bsky.social! Excited to support our fantastic team, led by @aldersonday.bsky.social, run an invitation-only event for publishers, agents & writers. Professor in Practice @nickbarley.bsky.social begins with the big question: what happens in our minds when we read?

New from @durhamimh.bsky.social - the first @thereaderbank.bsky.social paper! We identify 4 factors in a new scale of reading imagery, the ReaderBank Imagination Quiz. Well done 1st author @georgiapunton.bsky.social & thanks to our partners at @edbookfest.bsky.social Cc @durhampsych.bsky.social

PsyArXivBot@psyarxivbot.bsky.social · 12mo ago

The Forces of the Imagination: Exploring dimensions of mental imagery using the ReaderBank Imagination Quiz (RBIQ): https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/47hq9_v1

🔥Hot off the press! New pre-print with the v. first findings from our study of reading, the imagination and mental health in collab with @edbookfest.bsky.social doi.org/10.31234/osf...

✨ Excitement! Our #ReaderBank team are heading back to @edbookfest.bsky.social next week to explore the links between reading, imagination and mental health. 📖 💡🧠 Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...

ReaderBank@thereaderbank.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Another page turns and the detectives of the imagination are on their way back to the Edinburgh International Book Festival this August to find out more about words we read, characters we meet, and worlds we step into! Read on to find out more.

How is subjective experience used in #mentalhealth research? We’re looking for researchers (especially neuroscientists, geneticists, big data scientists, and biomedical researchers, and non-UK researchers) to take part in a short survey, as part of the SUNRISE study. www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/774USE/

Joy Chen and Nkili Cooper reflect on a seminar held at Rice University’s Medical Humanities Research Institute on the topic of medical technologies and healthcare inequities. thepolyphony.org/2025/07/11/t...

The Sawyer Seminar Research Symposium “Reimagining Technologies of Care: Racial Health Equity and Data Justice”

Joy Chen and Nkili Cooper reflect on a seminar held at Rice University’s Medical Humanities Research Institute on the topic of medical technologies and healthcare inequities.

thepolyphony.org

From our Critical Neurodiversity Studies conference and a visit from our international Advisory Board to events at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, there’s plenty of news from our Discovery Research Platform in the July e-bulletin! mailchi.mp/9a17f6f10f4f...

IMH newsletter: July 2025

News & updates from the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University.

mailchi.mp

🎬 And it's a wrap! Day 3 of our Critical Neurodiversity Studies conference ends with Daniel Oliver's keynote 'Performance Dork' and closing remarks from our Fellows. Huge thanks to everyone, especially our fab events co-ordinators @aryaray.bsky.social & Haf Serajee.

Don't miss our Platform Co-director @aldersonday.bsky.social in conversation with Vincent Deary in Waterstones in Newcastle next week (Wed, 28 May, 2pm). Get your tickets here: www.waterstones.com/events/an-ev...

An Evening with Ben Alderson-Day and Vincent Deary in conversation | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Waterstones

Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about An Evening with Ben Alderson-Day and Vincent Deary in conversation today.

waterstones.com

NOW OPEN FOR REGISTRATION: TONGUES: Medical Humanities across Linguistic and Cultural Frontiers. The Northern Network for Medical Humanities Research 2025 Congress | 21-23 May 2025 | Lancaster University, Hosted Online. For details, programme, and registration, click here: tinyurl.com/5n75xpaz

📣 Seminar alert! How can non-pharmacological interventions improve mental health? On 16th May, join us as Simon Hackett examines studies on creative health and arts psychotherapy interventions. Don't hesitate to register here 👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-pharma...

Non-pharmacological interventions & creative mental health therapies

A hybrid seminar by Dr Simon Hackett on application of creative therapies to non-pharmacological interventions for mental health improvement

eventbrite.co.uk