Medicine, Science and Culture

The Medicine, Science and Culture (MeSC) research interest group provides an open and flexible forum in which members can explore, debate, and critique emerging issues in medical and scientific worlds.

The group brings together different disciplines within the social sciences, acknowledging the important relation between medicine and science and debates over increasingly biomedicalised Western societies. 

Previous events have included sessions on psychiatry, disability, illness, reproductive technologies, brains, disgust, sporting ethics, food, and e-cigarettes. Current research interests include, but are not limited to: Emerging technologies; Genetics and the family; Health, illness, and disease; Medical encounters and interactions; Methodological innovation; Professional practice and knowledge; Reproduction; Risk in everyday life; Stigma; The ethics of medical and scientific research; Theoretical and methodological approaches in studies of science and medicine

MeSC meets around once every two months and events are open to academic staff, researchers, postgraduate students, and professionals working in the fields of medical care, health, and science. Events involve presentations, public workshops, or formulating ideas for symposia and/or conferences – although we do not limit ourselves to these formats and are open to new ideas.

The primary agenda of MeSC is to exchange ideas, build networks and broaden horizons, and contribute toward the ongoing concerns of the critical and substantive social study of medicine, health, illness, and science.