Lynette Wallworth’s Tender: On taking ownership of death and dying A particular highlight in the documentary category at this year’s BFI London Film Festival was the UK premiere of Tender, which follows a community group in the Australian town of Port Kembla as it seeks to establish its own, not-for-profit, bespoke funeral service. Directed by […]
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Neurological Disorders on Film by Catherine Oakley
Neurological Disorders on Film at the 58th British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival, October 2014 Film and television have long explored narratives involving neurological disorders, but have achieved only patchy success in engaging with the emotional, physical and social implications of this category of impairments. The BFI London Film Festival (LFF) has previously proven […]
CFP: Postgraduate Medical Humanities Conference 2015 (University of Exeter, 20-21 July 2015)
CFP: Postgraduate Medical Humanities Conference 2015 University of Exeter, 20-21 July 2015 Confirmed Keynote Speakers: Professor Stuart Murray, University of Leeds Dr Roberta Bivins, University of Warwick Building on the success of last year’s Postgraduate Medical Humanities Conference, this conference aims to bring together researchers from a variety of disciplines in a manner that reflects […]
Stroke, music and love: The Possibilities Are Endless
Following Andrew Marr’s recent stroke and successful return to work, stroke and its consequences have been a national topic; stroke survivors and their families in the UK have gained hope that a stroke does not necessarily mean an end to one’s career or life. On the 29th of October 2014, the World Stroke Organization (WSO) […]
Poetry, Science and Medicine
Through the Door is a collaborative project involving Archives for London and Poet in the City. Six poets have been commissioned to create new works based on archives that include those of St Paul’s Cathedral and The British Library. This week I attended a reading from the selection of poems – The Bone Ship […]
Parkinson’s Disease and Being Human: Through a Lens
‘Over the Hill’ at Create Gallery New England House New England Street, Brighton, BN1 4GH until 17 October Tim Andrews was working as a solicitor when he was diagnosed in 2006 with Parkinson’s Disease and was obliged to retire. The following year he responded to an ad in Time Out for ‘real-life’ nude models – […]
Silence: A Woman’s Wound
In a healing relationship with the wounded, we are witnesses; we are bearers of witnessing those moments when another reveals their vulnerability, and when we recognise such vulnerability then we find the unanswered voices. The foundation of any healing is when we close our eyes without losing the perception of how the other— how you— […]
Guest Essay: “A mind diseased”: Examining the evolution of madness using Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Sarah Ahmed
INTRODUCTION Over the years, our understanding of what it means to be mad has evolved. Ancient civilisations held the belief that madness was as a result of spiritual possession; the Enlightenment’s concept of rationality remade madness into an external manifestation of internal grief; in the last century we have started to develop biological theories […]
Book Review: Final Chapters: Writings About the End of Life
‘Final Chapters’ is the product of a creative writing competition organised through the Dying Matters Coalition, which was established in 2009 by the National Council for Palliative Care. The book invites 30 contributors to describe their reflections on dying. […]
Medicine Unboxed: Students – Call for Participation
Medicine Unboxed aims to examine medicine from the perspective of the arts and humanities, and arises from the view that good medicine demands more than scientific and technical expertise, also requiring ethical judgment, empathy, and an understanding of human experience. Last year saw the first Medicine Unboxed: Students meeting at which students of the arts, health and […]