Bodies
Wills Memorial Building, Reception Room
A day of talks and poems from speakers & best-selling authors who are changing and challenging perceptions of the body within their fields.
Medical humanities uses ideas, tools and methods from disciplines such as history, art, philosophy, theology and literature to help create innovative strategies for understanding and improving health and healthcare. Drawing on these various sources, the field seeks to explore the social and cultural context in which medicine and healthcare is delivered, as well as the challenges and tribulations that are irreconcilably entwined with healthcare.
Bodies is pleased to welcome a variety of renowned guest speakers who have changed and challenged perceptions within their fields.
Speakers include: Rachel Clarke, NHS palliative care doctor (Your Life In My Hands, Dear Life, Breathtaking); Chris Luke, consultant in emergency care (A Life in Trauma); Kat Lyons, Bristol City Poet; Henry Marsh, retired neurosurgeon (Do No Harm, Admissions: A Life in Brain Surgery, And Finally: Matters of Life and Death); Sabeena Pirooz of The Sky Project; Lesel Dawson and Lucy Selman of Good Grief: A Festival; Mark Taubert, consultant in palliative care and founder of TalkCPR; Ian Williams, GP, comic artist, and founder of graphicmedicine.org (The Bad Doctor, The Lady Doctor); and the team behind the remarkable Channel 4 documentary My Dead Body.
The conference is aimed at the public, health professionals and all of us who have been, or will be, patients.
Overview of the Event
The event is divided into two parts: a day and an evening.
The day will run from 9:30am to 5:15pm and will consist of series of talks and panel discussions from the speakers, and poems from Bristol City Poet Kat Lyons. Lunch and pastries will be provided by iconic Bristol eateries, Farro and Little Bagel Co. There will also be the opportunity to purchase books at the event courtesy of Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft.
The evening will run from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Rachel Clarke will give a talk on 'Speaking Out and Saving Lives - The Spectacular Power of Story' and Henry Marsh will be discussing his latest novel 'And Finally - Matters of Life and Death'. He will examine his own transition from doctor to patient and reflect on how this has forced him to confront his own mortality. Both speakers will be considering the present conflict in Ukraine, including their amazing work with Hospice Ukraine.
Hospice Ukraine is a UK-registered charity which is dedicated to supporting healthcare professionals in Ukraine to provide comfort, dignity and palliative care for all in need at end of life. There will be a bucket collection to raise funds for this vitally important work.
