If you have an event that you would like to share with the history of medicine community via this page then please contact Dr Justine Pick, Executive Secretary admin@sshm.org
Registration Open: Faecal-oral diseases and ‘Sanitary Revolutions’ – the long view
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (‘WaSH’) programmes have saved millions of lives over the last century. Cholera, typhoid and dysentery have receded as major causes of death. However diarrhoeal diseases remain a persistent problem amongst young children, and one of the outstanding puzzles of WaSH research is the variable impacts of these programmes on child health outcomes.
Surprisingly, these uneven and contested effects of public health interventions were also a feature of the ‘Sanitary Revolution’ in historical settings. This conference brings together historians, epidemiologists, archaeologists and anthropologists to consider the evolutionary and social histories of faecal-oral diseases, and to consider the importance of local geographies, cultural practices and social inequalities to the design and success of public health interventions.
A draft programme is available here.
The conference is free to attend, and some funding is available to support travel and accommodation for early career and student presenters. The programme will include several flash talk sessions with 5-10 minute presentations. If you are interested in giving a flash talk then please indicate this on the registration form.
Please register by June 1st. Please contact Romola Davenport if you have any queries about flash talks or other aspects of the conference (rjd23@cam.ac.uk).
Booking Open for Blood is the price of coal: Coal communities, health and welfare in Britain from the 19th century to the present
This free one day conference aims to bring together researchers from higher education, libraries, archives, museums and community and campaign groups to explore the history of health and welfare in Britain’s coal mining industry.
Held jointly by the University of Warwick’s Centre for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology, and Modern Records Centre, the event will run alongside an exhibition which will explore some of the themes covered by the speakers through the National Union of Mineworkers’ archives.
Thursday 18 June 2026, 9:15am – 5:30pm
Faculty of Arts Building, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL
For the full programme and details on how to book your place see conference webpage
Leuven Centre for Health Humanities yearly lecture series
This year’s lecture series explores the entangled relations between nature and health. Bringing together perspectives from medical history, psychology, disability studies, colonial studies, and environmental humanities, the talks examine how ideas of nature have shaped—and have been shaped by— practices of care, control, and coexistence. Topics range from the rise of disposable medical technologies and their environmental costs, to colonial disease management at the cattle frontier, and from the ambivalent role of “nature” in the lives of people with disabilities to contemporary debates on the restorative effects of natural environments. The series also turns to the microbial world, challenging human exceptionalism and rethinking health as multispecies interdependence rather than biological mastery. Together, these lectures invite critical reflection on sustainability, vulnerability, and care, and offer new ways of imagining health in a world where human and nonhuman lives are profoundly interconnected.
Join them online and on campus, at KU Leuven, for a series of inspiring health humanities talks.
You can find more information about the lectures and how to register here: Health Humanities Lecture Series 2025-2026 — Leuven Centre for Health Humanities (LCH²)
New Free Entry Medical Gallery in Edinburgh
The Joyce Grainger Learning Centre is a permanent gallery and learning centre and an extension of the College’s existing Physicians’ Gallery which was awarded Museum Accreditation status in 2024. The Centre’s exhibition explores the themes of Scotland’s medical history, medical and psychiatric art, and the lived experience of patients. Over 50 objects, manuscripts and books are on display, sharing stories from medieval medicine to modern day treatments.
Exhibits include the only Ripley Scroll on permanent public display anywhere in the world – a 5.5 metre alchemical scroll which is said to contain the secret to the Philosophers’ Stone. Also on permanent display is the Jacobite medicine chest of Sir Stuart Threipland, personal physician to Bonnie Prince Charlie, said to have been used at the Battle of Culloden and containing 147 different medicines.
The gallery also contains a display of rare books which will change regularly to showcase the College’s remarkable library collections. We’ll be covering everything from banned books to the history of exercise. Our first display explores The Shrieking Mandrake – the history of one of medicine’s most magical plants.
Our learning centre contains a family-friendly space with activities, books and resources for young people. Visitors can drop in and try them out independently, or attend one of our upcoming workshops for young people.
The gallery is open Monday – Friday, 10am to 4.30pm, is free entry and is open to everyone. It is located at 11 Queen Street, EH2 1JQ.