🏛️ 📚 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

@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...

"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...

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...

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.

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 🤩

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-...

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...

#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

🔥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...

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...

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...

🎬 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...

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...

Congratulations to @literarti.bsky.social from our @durhamimh.bsky.social for being chosen for an honorary doctorate from @liu.se. Hugely deserved! tinyurl.com/2zuhzdre

10 days left to apply for a Bridging Fellowship in Medical Humanities! Find out more about all the job opportunities in the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities here medhumsplatform.org/work-with-us/

📣📣 THE NDHUMS MENTORSHIP SCHEME 2025/26 IS LIVE! We are delighted to announce that our non-hierarchical neurodivergent research partnership programme is now open for applications. Follow the link to learn more and apply. ndhumanities.com/mentorship-s...

Practice research on postpartum psychosis: prose collages 'decontextualise page 148 of the DSM-5-TR... jumble, disentangle, revise, and reimagine the enduring elisions – or arbitrariness – of certain specifiers which drift upon the high seas of diagnostic category' thepolyphony.org/2025/04/17/a...

Thrilled to be recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Moving Bodies Lab. Successful candidate will design & conduct an original prog of work that aligns with the aims of MBL & work with me and other members of the Lab team to…

🚀 Our April e-bulletin has just landed in inboxes! Read now for the very latest updates and insights from IMH and the Platform, inc. job opportunities, upcoming events, @the-polyphony.bsky.social content, and much, much more... mailchi.mp/de937849a18e...

#MedHums101 Medical Humanities questions what it means for bodies and minds to be 'normal'. Read our collection of articles exploring critical medical humanities approaches to neurodiversity & disability. thepolyphony.org/tag/disabili...

Jacob Badcock elucidates the parallels between 19th century colonial notions of sanitation and urban space and the recent demolition of an e-waste scrapyard in Accra (Ghana). thepolyphony.org/2025/04/03/a...

#MedHums101 Medical humanities champions arts-based and creative approaches. Plenty to read on the role of creativity, visual and material culture in advancing our understanding of health here 👉 thepolyphony.org/tag/arts-bas...

#MedHums101 Medical humanities explores and critiques the role of stories and storytelling in our understanding of health and illness. If you're interested in narrative and health, this collection of articles is for you! thepolyphony.org/tag/role-of-...

Thrilled and excited to be given this opportunity to build our partnership - @centreformh.bsky.social and @durhamimh.bsky.social - as well as explore important research questions. Thanks to @literarti.bsky.social and @andybell-centremh.bsky.social for helping make this happen. Dreams can come true.

#MedHums101 The medical humanities unpacks the legacy of colonialism and the impact of racism in healthcare. A thought-provoking collection of articles on race, colonialism and health here: thepolyphony.org/tag/colonial...

#MedHums101 Medical humanities ... sees health as shaped by deep inequalities in society. Want to learn more? Read our top articles on health inequalities here: thepolyphony.org/tag/health-i...

🚀 Delighted to announce the publication of our new #MedHums101 brochure: ‘What is Medical Humanities?’ We hope it sparks your imagination, inspires your curiosity & encourages you to engage in our vibrant interdisciplinary field! tinyurl.com/what-is-med-...

How can 'interdisciplinary objects' help us share ideas, build connection and plan next steps in interdisciplinary & cross-sector health research teams? Mary Robson reflects on the use of creative and experimental methods in a workshop on Long Covid. medhumsplatform.org/interdiscipl...

🚀 We're hiring! Three fantastic Bridging Fellowships for recently completed PhD graduates interested in medical humanities, especially race and health, neurodiversity and lived experience research. Applications close 25 April 2025. medhumsplatform.org/2025-26-brid...

We are thrilled at Centre for Mental Health to have been involved in these three days of exploring queer research methodologies and their applications. Thank you @drfijohnstone.bsky.social and colleagues and students at Institute for Medical Humanities for asking us to facilitate. A privilege.

NOW OUT! Edinburgh Companion to Science Fiction and the Medical Humanities, ed. by me, @mariettarosetta.bsky.social, and Donna McCormack. @edinburghup.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social @the-polyphony.bsky.social tinyurl.com/5f6x94se

It was great to run with @sagebrice.bsky.social a workshop on Graphic Research Methods and Queer Medical Humanities! I have learnt so much from the discussion! Many thanks to @durhamimh.bsky.social for making this event a safe space to address sensitive issues.

If you are a carer, parent, educator, clinician, peer worker who supports young people (14-25) with mental ill health and is based in Europe, please do consider joining our Mental Health Advisory Group for our YouthReach study. Please see details in flyer and can sign up via link or QR code