Medical Humanities: (In)Visibility

The global and local health inequalities revealed and perpetuated by the COVID-19 pandemic require us to reflect upon how we do medical humanities research. How does our work render some aspects of health and illness visible, while leaving others out of sight?

The aim of this year’s congress is to think more carefully about what sort of experiences the medical humanities has become adept at bringing to light, whilst reflecting on the ways in which theoretical methodologies, research priorities and funding structures have left other voices unheard

Hosted by the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University

Organised by the Northern Network for Medical Humanities Research

Supported by Wellcome

The organising committee includes Fraser Riddell, Angela Woods, Mary Robson, Jesse Proudfoot, Marie Allitt, Pauline Harrison, Ruben VerWaal, Sarah McLusky and Jane Abel. The website was developed by Rebecca Doggwiler and Sarah McLusky. Operational support from Orla Cronin and Jonathan Dye. Contact us using the form at the bottom of this page.

We are delighted to bring you over 50 sessions which cover a huge range of perspectives on the theme of invisibility in the medical humanities. Key themes include COVID-19, shame, disability and mental health, and our speakers will be joining us from from all over the world. You can download the outline programme here.

Keynote Speakers

Wed 21 April, 12:00 BST

Bettina Bildhauer

(University of St Andrews)

Invisible Blood:
Hiding Menstruation from the Middle Ages to Today

Thu 22 April, 12:00 BST

Felicity Callard

(University of Glasgow)

Epidemic Time:
Thinking from the Sick Bed

Thu 22 April, 16:30 BST

Jules Netherland

(Drug Policy Alliance, New York)

White Opioids:
The Racialization of the Opioid Epidemic

Fri 23 April, 16:30 BST

Jaipreet Virdi

(University of Delaware)

‘Invisible yet potent helps’: Technologies Between Deafness and Hearing

Join the conversation on Twitter using #NNMHR2021

Running the NNMHR Congress online for the first time opens up many exciting possibilities for a truly global and a more accessible event which makes innovative use of a range of digital formats. This won’t just be a series of webinars – alongside the more conventional presentations, the programme will include workshops, Q&A sessions, video posters and networking opportunities. The Congress will be scheduled with synchronous and asynchronous elements to engage audiences in a range of time-zones and minimise Zoom fatigue.

All conference content is free and will be accessed through a password-protected section of this website. To receive the password please register using the link below.

Do you have any questions about the conference? Please feel free to get in touch using the form below.