Medical Humanities Research Centre
What are the Medical Humanities?
The Medical Humanities complement, contextualize and critique purely biomedical, technological or other reductive accounts of what it means to experience illness, encounter disease or transact a therapeutic relationship. In addressing how we comprehend health, sickness, disease and “the embodied life”, such concerns are examined from a range of professional and patient perspectives.
Who we are
The recently founded Medical Humanities Research Centre (MHRC) is based in the School of Critical Studies, but functions across the College of Arts and the College of Medicine, Veterinary and Life Sciences and in close liaison with the College of Social Sciences.
The MHRC is co-directed by Dr David Shuttleton and Dr Gavin Miller.
The MHRC is advised by a committee drawn from various Schools and subject areas across the university. The current members are: Professor Sally Wyke (Institute of Health and Wellbeing), Professor Sam Cohn (History), Dr David Bain (Philosophy), Professor Nigel Leask (English Literature), Dr Sheila Dickson (German), Professor Malcolm Nicolson (Centre for the History of Medicine), Dr Christine Ferguson (English Literature), Professor Marek Dominiczak (Medical Humanities Unit).
As an international centre for medical research Glasgow has long played a significant role in the emergence of Medical Humanities; breakthrough publications by Sir Kenneth Calman (our current Chancellor) and Prof. Emeritus R. S. Downie remain foundational studies. A wide range of Medical Humanities research, including some major externally funded projects, is currently being undertaken across Glasgow University. In this context we see the MHRC as offering a fresh framework upon which to deepen and expand internationally significant research
Externally Funded Research and Activities
The MHRC has a strong track record in attracting funding to the School of Critical Studies. The MHRC also assists in the development of applications by other Schools of the University. Amongst current and past externally funded projects held specifically by Critical Studies are:
1) AHRC Research Grant, “The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh” (David Shuttleton). £561,874.
2) Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Network Award, “Medical Humanities Research Network Scotland” (David Shuttleton, Gavin Miller). £9,623.
3) Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship (Dr Megan Coyer, SCS): “The Medical Blackwoodians and Medico-literary Synergy in the Nineteenth-Century Periodical Press”. £132,151.
4) AHRC Exploratory Award under the Science in Culture Theme, “Debating the first principles of Transcultural Psychiatry” (Gavin Miller). £8,570.
5) Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Workshop Award, "Scottish Health Humanities Seminar and Masterclass Series" (Gavin Miller, Alette Willis). £4,150.
6) Carnegie Trust Small Research Grant, "Psychiatry in the Book Market: Writing on Psychiatry and Mental Health for Penguin (1945-1985)" (Gavin Miller). £550.
7) Wellcome Trust Medical History and Humanities Small Grant, "'Attentive Writers': Healthcare, Authorship, and Authority" (PI: Megan Coyer; Co-Is David Shuttleton, Gavin Miller, Elizabeth Reeder). £5,000.
We are keen to foster further externally funded medical humanities research, including postdoctoral and doctoral awards. Please email either of the Directors, Dr Gavin Miller or Dr David Shuttleton, in this regard.
Research Development
The MHRC oversees a variety of research development activities intended to foster new and collaborative research.
Visiting Fellows
The MHRC currently hosts a Visiting Fellow, Dr Donna Mccormack, who is pursuing research on the cultural and epistemic authority of biotechnological narratives, particularly those surrounding organ transplantation.
Teaching
The MHRC supports and encourages teaching in the medical humanities, including Student Selected Components for medical students, an Intercalated BSc in the Medical Humanities, and undergraduate courses.