Durham Institute for Medical Humanities
@durhamimh.bsky.social
Improving health by understanding hidden experience.
Supported by Wellcome.
durham.ac.uk/imh
medhumsplatform.org
Supported by Wellcome.
durham.ac.uk/imh
medhumsplatform.org
Survey reminder! If you've ever read or written for @the-polyphony.bsky.social, the team are still keen to hear your views on the site and any connections, ideas and opportunities that may have emerged through the experience.
Take part today: durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Take part today: durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
The Polyphony | 2026 User Survey
A 10 minute survey exploring what it is like to read or write for The Polyphony and what can happen as a result.
durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com
September 25, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Survey reminder! If you've ever read or written for @the-polyphony.bsky.social, the team are still keen to hear your views on the site and any connections, ideas and opportunities that may have emerged through the experience.
Take part today: durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Take part today: durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
A warm welcome to Prof. Alison Downham Moore from @westernsydneyu.bsky.social, who joins us as a Visiting Scholar this week!
Find out more about Alison: medhumsplatform.org/welcome-to-v...
Find out more about Alison: medhumsplatform.org/welcome-to-v...
Welcome to Visiting Scholar, Alison Downham Moore | The Platform
medhumsplatform.org
September 25, 2026 at 10:40 AM
A warm welcome to Prof. Alison Downham Moore from @westernsydneyu.bsky.social, who joins us as a Visiting Scholar this week!
Find out more about Alison: medhumsplatform.org/welcome-to-v...
Find out more about Alison: medhumsplatform.org/welcome-to-v...
Last chance to get tickets for ReaderBank at BBC Contains Strong Language in Salford this week (25–27 September)! Find out how poetry engages the imagination and what kind of reader you are at our interactive workshop and drop-in sessions.
👉 medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
👉 medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
September 23, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Last chance to get tickets for ReaderBank at BBC Contains Strong Language in Salford this week (25–27 September)! Find out how poetry engages the imagination and what kind of reader you are at our interactive workshop and drop-in sessions.
👉 medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
👉 medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
A warm welcome to Palak Daga, who joins the IMH as our new Communications Intern. We're looking forward to working with you, Palak!
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Welcome to Palak Daga - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
September 23, 2026 at 1:19 PM
A warm welcome to Palak Daga, who joins the IMH as our new Communications Intern. We're looking forward to working with you, Palak!
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
New open access book! 'Neurodiversity and the Contemporary in the 21st Century Novel' by Nicola Simonetti sheds light on the intersections between neurodiversity, literature and the growing field of Contemporary Studies. Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/new-publicat...
September 22, 2026 at 10:04 AM
New open access book! 'Neurodiversity and the Contemporary in the 21st Century Novel' by Nicola Simonetti sheds light on the intersections between neurodiversity, literature and the growing field of Contemporary Studies. Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/new-publicat...
Congratulations to @danielpjones.bsky.social, who has been awarded a prestigious Wellcome Early-Career Award to transform understandings of Tourette Syndrome. 🎉
Find out more about Daniel’s project: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Find out more about Daniel’s project: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Daniel Jones Award - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
September 21, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Congratulations to @danielpjones.bsky.social, who has been awarded a prestigious Wellcome Early-Career Award to transform understandings of Tourette Syndrome. 🎉
Find out more about Daniel’s project: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Find out more about Daniel’s project: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
How do bodies know?
Join us in Durham on October 6 for a full-day workshop exploring embodied and relational forms of knowing in therapeutic and qualitative research settings.
📝 Register below:
Join us in Durham on October 6 for a full-day workshop exploring embodied and relational forms of knowing in therapeutic and qualitative research settings.
📝 Register below:
Engaging the “ineffable” in Therapeutic Practice and Qualitative Research
An experimental workshop examining embodied and relational forms of knowing in therapeutic and qualitative research settings.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
September 18, 2026 at 2:48 PM
How do bodies know?
Join us in Durham on October 6 for a full-day workshop exploring embodied and relational forms of knowing in therapeutic and qualitative research settings.
📝 Register below:
Join us in Durham on October 6 for a full-day workshop exploring embodied and relational forms of knowing in therapeutic and qualitative research settings.
📝 Register below:
Have you ever read or written for @the-polyphony.bsky.social?
We've launched a short survey to help shape The Polyphony's future and would love to hear from you about any opportunities, ideas, or connections that came from your experiences of the site.
📝 Take part here: tinyurl.com/polyphony-26
We've launched a short survey to help shape The Polyphony's future and would love to hear from you about any opportunities, ideas, or connections that came from your experiences of the site.
📝 Take part here: tinyurl.com/polyphony-26
The Polyphony | 2026 User Survey
A 10 minute survey exploring what it is like to read or write for The Polyphony and what can happen as a result.
tinyurl.com
September 16, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Have you ever read or written for @the-polyphony.bsky.social?
We've launched a short survey to help shape The Polyphony's future and would love to hear from you about any opportunities, ideas, or connections that came from your experiences of the site.
📝 Take part here: tinyurl.com/polyphony-26
We've launched a short survey to help shape The Polyphony's future and would love to hear from you about any opportunities, ideas, or connections that came from your experiences of the site.
📝 Take part here: tinyurl.com/polyphony-26
Reposted by Durham Institute for Medical Humanities
I blogged for the EPIC project about social contagion and epistemic injustice, the dangers of under-researched but persuasive theories, and how people who self-harm are left on the periphery of knowledge-making about their own lives: epistemicinjusticeinhealthcareproject.blogspot.com/2026/09/cont...
Contagion’s complexities: When persuasive theory takes priority
epistemicinjusticeinhealthcareproject.blogspot.com
September 16, 2026 at 11:26 AM
I blogged for the EPIC project about social contagion and epistemic injustice, the dangers of under-researched but persuasive theories, and how people who self-harm are left on the periphery of knowledge-making about their own lives: epistemicinjusticeinhealthcareproject.blogspot.com/2026/09/cont...
Reposted by Durham Institute for Medical Humanities
Here, Emily Davis, Gabriela Minden and I reflect in @the-polyphony.bsky.social on what dance can teach us about health and knowledge: whose movements are valued in research?
Thanks to the @durhamimh.bsky.social for supporting the event!
#Dance #MedicalHumanities
thepolyphony.org/2026/09/07/d...
Thanks to the @durhamimh.bsky.social for supporting the event!
#Dance #MedicalHumanities
thepolyphony.org/2026/09/07/d...
Dance and the critical medical humanities
Emily Davis, Daniel P Jones, and Gabriela Minden reflect on the potential of dance in the critical medical humanities following their one-day event ‘Dancing Across Disciplines’ held at Durham Unive…
thepolyphony.org
September 7, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Here, Emily Davis, Gabriela Minden and I reflect in @the-polyphony.bsky.social on what dance can teach us about health and knowledge: whose movements are valued in research?
Thanks to the @durhamimh.bsky.social for supporting the event!
#Dance #MedicalHumanities
thepolyphony.org/2026/09/07/d...
Thanks to the @durhamimh.bsky.social for supporting the event!
#Dance #MedicalHumanities
thepolyphony.org/2026/09/07/d...
Our third Medical Humanities PhD Summer School in collaboration with the Centre for Medical Humanities and Bioethics at Linköping University was a huge success!
👉Find out more about how we explored interdisciplinary & cross-sector perspectives on bodies and embodiment: tinyurl.com/PhD-School-2...
👉Find out more about how we explored interdisciplinary & cross-sector perspectives on bodies and embodiment: tinyurl.com/PhD-School-2...
September 14, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Our third Medical Humanities PhD Summer School in collaboration with the Centre for Medical Humanities and Bioethics at Linköping University was a huge success!
👉Find out more about how we explored interdisciplinary & cross-sector perspectives on bodies and embodiment: tinyurl.com/PhD-School-2...
👉Find out more about how we explored interdisciplinary & cross-sector perspectives on bodies and embodiment: tinyurl.com/PhD-School-2...
Don't miss @thereaderbank.bsky.social at BBC Contains Strong Language in Salford later this month!
Join us on 25–27 September to explore how poetry engages the imagination in different and surprising ways at our workshop and drop-in sessions.
Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
Join us on 25–27 September to explore how poetry engages the imagination in different and surprising ways at our workshop and drop-in sessions.
Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
ReaderBank at BBC Contains Strong Language, 25–27 Sept 2026 | The Platform
medhumsplatform.org
September 14, 2026 at 12:56 PM
Don't miss @thereaderbank.bsky.social at BBC Contains Strong Language in Salford later this month!
Join us on 25–27 September to explore how poetry engages the imagination in different and surprising ways at our workshop and drop-in sessions.
Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
Join us on 25–27 September to explore how poetry engages the imagination in different and surprising ways at our workshop and drop-in sessions.
Find out more: medhumsplatform.org/readerbank-a...
In this age of AI, how can the medical humanities shape digitisation, and how are digital technologies shaping emerging medical practices?
Join us on 16 Sept for a free day of talks and panels, hosted by our AI and Medical Humanities research strand.
Register👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-world-b...
Join us on 16 Sept for a free day of talks and panels, hosted by our AI and Medical Humanities research strand.
Register👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-world-b...
AI World-building and the Medical Humanities
In this age of AI, how can the medical humanities shape digitisation, and how are digital technologies shaping emerging medical practices?
www.eventbrite.co.uk
September 2, 2026 at 10:14 AM
In this age of AI, how can the medical humanities shape digitisation, and how are digital technologies shaping emerging medical practices?
Join us on 16 Sept for a free day of talks and panels, hosted by our AI and Medical Humanities research strand.
Register👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-world-b...
Join us on 16 Sept for a free day of talks and panels, hosted by our AI and Medical Humanities research strand.
Register👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-world-b...
Moving Bodies Lab Lead @cassie-phoenix.bsky.social delivered the Sir Derek Birley memorial lecture at the British Society of Sports History 2026 Annual Conference last week to an international audience at the University of Edinburgh.
Read our news story 👇
medhumsplatform.org/sir-derek-bi...
Read our news story 👇
medhumsplatform.org/sir-derek-bi...
Sir Derek Birley keynote lecture delivered by Moving Bodies Lab Lead | The Platform
medhumsplatform.org
September 2, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Moving Bodies Lab Lead @cassie-phoenix.bsky.social delivered the Sir Derek Birley memorial lecture at the British Society of Sports History 2026 Annual Conference last week to an international audience at the University of Edinburgh.
Read our news story 👇
medhumsplatform.org/sir-derek-bi...
Read our news story 👇
medhumsplatform.org/sir-derek-bi...
That’s a wrap on #ReaderBank at the @edbookfest.bsky.social! 📚✨
Two brilliant days in the Discovery Zone talking with young readers and teachers about what happens in our imaginations when we read: how characters sound, stories feel, and whole worlds take shape.
Two brilliant days in the Discovery Zone talking with young readers and teachers about what happens in our imaginations when we read: how characters sound, stories feel, and whole worlds take shape.
August 28, 2026 at 10:45 AM
That’s a wrap on #ReaderBank at the @edbookfest.bsky.social! 📚✨
Two brilliant days in the Discovery Zone talking with young readers and teachers about what happens in our imaginations when we read: how characters sound, stories feel, and whole worlds take shape.
Two brilliant days in the Discovery Zone talking with young readers and teachers about what happens in our imaginations when we read: how characters sound, stories feel, and whole worlds take shape.
Reposted by Durham Institute for Medical Humanities
We’ve had such interesting discussions today about how characters sound, stories feel and worlds look in our minds when we read. We’re still buzzing with excitement after today, and can’t wait to tell you what comes next!
If you don’t know what your Reader Type is yet, head over to readerbank.org
If you don’t know what your Reader Type is yet, head over to readerbank.org
August 27, 2026 at 3:08 PM
We’ve had such interesting discussions today about how characters sound, stories feel and worlds look in our minds when we read. We’re still buzzing with excitement after today, and can’t wait to tell you what comes next!
If you don’t know what your Reader Type is yet, head over to readerbank.org
If you don’t know what your Reader Type is yet, head over to readerbank.org
Reposted by Durham Institute for Medical Humanities
If you’re at the Edinburgh International Book Festival today, come visit us at the Discovery Zone for children in Venue B! We’d love to speak to young readers and teachers about how you imagine when you read... and while you’re at it, come do the quiz and grab a trading card and pretty bookmarks!
August 26, 2026 at 10:30 AM
If you’re at the Edinburgh International Book Festival today, come visit us at the Discovery Zone for children in Venue B! We’d love to speak to young readers and teachers about how you imagine when you read... and while you’re at it, come do the quiz and grab a trading card and pretty bookmarks!
The ReaderBank team is on the way to the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 26-27 August!
🔮Find us at the Discovery Zone where we will talk to young readers and schoolteachers about how stories manifest themselves in our imagination when we read.
🔮Find us at the Discovery Zone where we will talk to young readers and schoolteachers about how stories manifest themselves in our imagination when we read.
August 25, 2026 at 10:09 AM
The ReaderBank team is on the way to the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 26-27 August!
🔮Find us at the Discovery Zone where we will talk to young readers and schoolteachers about how stories manifest themselves in our imagination when we read.
🔮Find us at the Discovery Zone where we will talk to young readers and schoolteachers about how stories manifest themselves in our imagination when we read.
Reposted by Durham Institute for Medical Humanities
📢Our Lancet paper on Ambient scribes as narrative technologies is out! @kirstenostherr.bsky.social @literarti.bsky.social @riceuniversity.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social #AcademicSky www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Ambient scribes as narrative technologies
Ambient scribes, also known as artificial intelligence-powered voice-to-text technology,
are widely cited as time-saving tools that reduce administrative burden for clinicians.
Yet, in their current u...
www.thelancet.com
August 19, 2026 at 3:02 PM
📢Our Lancet paper on Ambient scribes as narrative technologies is out! @kirstenostherr.bsky.social @literarti.bsky.social @riceuniversity.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social #AcademicSky www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
A new article in @thelancet.com co-authored by IMH Director Angela Woods calls for caution on the rapid adoption of ‘ambient scribes’ in healthcare – these are AI tools that listen to consultations and automatically generate patient notes.
Read more:
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Read more:
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Ambient Scribes as Narrative Technologies - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
August 25, 2026 at 9:05 AM
A new article in @thelancet.com co-authored by IMH Director Angela Woods calls for caution on the rapid adoption of ‘ambient scribes’ in healthcare – these are AI tools that listen to consultations and automatically generate patient notes.
Read more:
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Read more:
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
How can we better understand inequality in physical activity and health? A recent workshop hosted by IMH researchers explored how Intersectional Conversation Analysis can reveal how identity, power and inequality are negotiated in everyday interactions.
Read more: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Read more: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Intersectional Conversation Analysis, Physical Activity and the Medical Humanities - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
August 19, 2026 at 8:26 AM
How can we better understand inequality in physical activity and health? A recent workshop hosted by IMH researchers explored how Intersectional Conversation Analysis can reveal how identity, power and inequality are negotiated in everyday interactions.
Read more: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Read more: www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Our summer newsletter has just hit inboxes! 📨☀️
July's edition shares news from the Platform & IMH, new publications, and articles from @the-polyphony.bsky.social.
We’re having a break from our monthly newsletter in August – we will be back in your inboxes in September.
mailchi.mp/durham.ac.uk...
July's edition shares news from the Platform & IMH, new publications, and articles from @the-polyphony.bsky.social.
We’re having a break from our monthly newsletter in August – we will be back in your inboxes in September.
mailchi.mp/durham.ac.uk...
IMH newsletter: July 2026
News & updates from the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University.
mailchi.mp
July 28, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Our summer newsletter has just hit inboxes! 📨☀️
July's edition shares news from the Platform & IMH, new publications, and articles from @the-polyphony.bsky.social.
We’re having a break from our monthly newsletter in August – we will be back in your inboxes in September.
mailchi.mp/durham.ac.uk...
July's edition shares news from the Platform & IMH, new publications, and articles from @the-polyphony.bsky.social.
We’re having a break from our monthly newsletter in August – we will be back in your inboxes in September.
mailchi.mp/durham.ac.uk...
Great to see Hearing the Voice – our interdisciplinary study of voice-hearing which ran from 2012–2022 – featured in this important report on interdisciplinary mental health research!
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Inquiry into interdisciplinary mental health research - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
July 21, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Great to see Hearing the Voice – our interdisciplinary study of voice-hearing which ran from 2012–2022 – featured in this important report on interdisciplinary mental health research!
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
As part of her In Practice Research Fellowship, Dr Estelle Verdi has published a scoping review exploring how creative health approaches may support the mental health and wellbeing of minoritised women following baby loss.
Read the article in full 👇
medhumsplatform.org/new-publicat...
Read the article in full 👇
medhumsplatform.org/new-publicat...
New publication from In Practice Research Fellow: Creative health and baby loss in minoritised women
Estelle Verdi has co-authored a scoping review exploring how creative health approaches may support mental health of minoritised women following baby loss.
medhumsplatform.org
July 15, 2026 at 11:57 AM
As part of her In Practice Research Fellowship, Dr Estelle Verdi has published a scoping review exploring how creative health approaches may support the mental health and wellbeing of minoritised women following baby loss.
Read the article in full 👇
medhumsplatform.org/new-publicat...
Read the article in full 👇
medhumsplatform.org/new-publicat...
Reposted by Durham Institute for Medical Humanities
Was glad to attend this workshop earlier this week hosted by @durhamimh.bsky.social. Very thought provoking presentations and discussions.
July 11, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Was glad to attend this workshop earlier this week hosted by @durhamimh.bsky.social. Very thought provoking presentations and discussions.