Article Summary by Rosalyn Buckland Hidden beneath the ground in coalmines, or behind the walls of factories, the injured bodies of workers have too often been overlooked. While the nineteenth-century saw workplaces become ever more dangerous, journalists struggled to tell these stories. Using poems by Joseph Skipsey, I challenge journalistic neglect in order to illuminate the actions […]
Latest articles
War of Conscience: Anti-Vaccination and the Battle for Medical Freedom During World War One
Article Summary by Susan McPherson Many high-income countries have relatively high COVID vaccination uptake among people vulnerable to disease. There is also significant ‘vaccine hesitancy’ in some groups. Doubts may be fuelled to some extent by anti-vaccination campaigns. The term ‘anti-vax’ tends to be used to criticise those engaged in or endorsing anti-vaccination as though […]
Let’s Talk and Be Honest: Marianne Khoury, Egyptian film maker, Tackles Arab Women Taboos
Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘Let’s talk’ (Documentary film, directed by Marianne Khoury, Egypt, 2019, winner of best documentary film in Cairo International Film Festival 2019) Showing at ‘The Time is New: Selections from Contemporary Arab Cinema’ at BFI Southbank and on BFI Player from 27 August–5 October. Tickets on sale […]
Person-ness of Voices in Lived Experience Accounts of Psychosis: Combining Literary Linguistics and Clinical Psychology
Article Summary by Elena Semino, Demjen Zsofia and Luke Collins A substantial minority of the general population and a considerable majority of people with diagnoses such as schizophrenia hear voices that other people cannot hear—a phenomenon that is sometimes described as a type of hallucination. Psychologists have noticed that reports of voice hearing differ in […]
Doctoral Research Fellowship: “Bodies in Translation: Science, Knowledge and Sustainability in Cultural Translation”
Announcement from the University of Oslo A Doctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1017) in cultural history and cultural translation is available at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo. Cultural translations in early modern descriptions of the «New World» The person appointed will form a part of the research project “Bodies in […]
Neuro-Diversity Explored in Film
Film Review by Professor Janet Harbord, Professor of Film, Queen Mary University, London When cinema has depicted autism it has almost exclusively sought to translate the world of the autistic person for a supposed neurotypical audience. But what happens if we start from a position of autism as a benefit, a modality that can renew […]
Be Still, My Beating Heart: Reading Pulselessness from Shakespeare to the Artificial Heart
Article Summary by Claire Hansen and Michael Charles Stevens This article explores how Shakespearean drama can help us to understand the significance of the heartbeat—medically and culturally. Patients with modern artificial hearts (or “LVADs”) do not have a discernible pulse. This undermines centuries of understanding the pulse as central to human life. To consider this […]
New-Media Arts-Based Public Engagement Projects Could Reshape the Future of Generative Biology
Article Summary by Diaa Ahmed Mohamed Ahmedien Interactive new-media artworks have been always known as a powerful means of science outreach not only because they visually communicate the research outputs to the laypeople but also due to their operational structures that enable non-scientists to be integrated into the processes of science-making. I have discussed several […]
Clare Barker: Global Genetic Fictions
Podcast with Clare Barker Today’s podcast features Clare Barker, guest editor of our June Special Issue for 2021: Global Genetic Fictions. Barker and the other authors of the issue ask questions about and engage with the Human Genome Diversity Project, discussion aspects of biocolonialism. For instance, what does it mean for genetic researchers based in […]
Traditional Proverbs Help Us Understand Hunger and Malnutrition in Malawi
Article Summary by Anne Dressel, Elizabeth Mkandawire, Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu Hunger and malnutrition are ongoing challenges in Malawi, especially in rural areas. Over 80% of the population is rural, and many practice subsistence farming—growing their own food to feed themselves and their families. The World Food Program estimates that 37% of Malawian children under the age […]