Book Review by Laura Grace Simpkins Elinor Cleghorn. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 2021. ISBN 9781474616850 Anne Green joined a grand house in an Oxfordshire village as a scullery maid during the 1640s. She was raped by the owner’s nephew in 1650 and became pregnant. Four months later, Anne went into labour. Her son was stillborn and […]
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The Mediated Discourse and Voice of Euthanasia: the Israeli Media as a Case Study
Article Summary by Baruch Shomron Euthanasia refers to the intentional ending of a person’s life with the intent of alleviating great pain or suffering. As such, euthanasia is an important social and quality of life issue. However, it is highly controversial and is continuously debated around the world. Indeed, as a value-laden issue, its legitimacy […]
Podcast with Riva Lehrer, Author of Golem Girl: A Memoir
Podcast with Riva Lehrer Riva Lehrer is an artist, writer, and curator who focuses on the socially challenged body. Best known for representations of people whose physical embodiment, sexuality, or gender identity have long been stigmatized. Lehrer’s memoir, Golem Girl (One World/ Penguin Random House), won the 2020 Barbellion Prize for Literature and was a […]
Notes on Material Cultures of Psychiatry
Book Review by George Tudorie Material Cultures of Psychiatry, edited by Monika Ankele and Benoît Majerus, transcript, 2020, 416pp. Meditative excavations of lost worlds are not the exclusive territory of phantasy, of imagining in disguise one’s own world buried, waiting for a speaker for the dead. Sometimes the sediment one contemplates is real enough, and […]
Disability, Relationship, and the Negotiation of Loss
Article Summary by Vic McKinney and Brian Watermeyer This paper explores the difficulty of going through a normal grieving process when becoming disabled and experiencing the death of a loved one. People with disabilities are historically, and generally still viewed as individuals associated with loss and deficit. There are also a range of stereotypical reactions […]
Conference Report: Colloquium “The Novel Stakes of Social Medicine”
Conference Report by Lucia Mair Medical Anthropology Switzerland (MAS), 03.-04. December 2021 In early December 2021, the two-day colloquium “The Novel Stakes of Social Medicine” brought together scholars from the medical humanities, health professionals, epidemiologists and economists from across Europe, digitally and in-person, against the backdrop of beautiful Lausanne. Hosted by Medical Anthropology Switzerland […]
The Bias Virus
Blog by Rachelle Ann Gonzales, BS*, Alex Im, BS* and Cynthia Romero, MD *Corresponding first-authors During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, I vividly remember watching a viral video of a young man attacking a masked, middle-aged Asian woman at the Grand Street subway station in New York City. […]
The Essence of Care
Fred Baillif, Swiss Film Director, talks about his film ‘La Mif’ with Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘La Mif’ is in general release in UK cinemas from 25th February 2022. Fred Baillif will deliver two Q and A events at the BFI Future Film Festival, “How to tell stories inspired by real-life experiences”, and […]
Emerging From The Tunnel of Trauma: A Season of Short Films at the BFI Future Film Festival
Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent 17-20 February 2022 The British Film Institute (BFI) Future Film Festival is aimed at aspiring filmmakers aged 16-25 years to showcase and share with a public audience their talent and vision through a hybrid series of events and screenings online and at the BFI Southbank, […]
Golem Girl: A Memoir by Riva Lehrer
Book Review by Dr Isabella Watts Published by One World and Virago This book is the beautiful memoir the artist Riva Lehrer, detailing her experiences of life, love, and her engagement with disability culture. Born in 1958 Lehrer is diagnosed with spina bifida- a condition of the spinal cord which many infants at that time […]