Over the 2025–26 year, our work has centred on building community, strengthening connections, and creating visible interdisciplinary momentum in research concerning the beginning and end of life.
We have developed sustained links with other IMH themes, IMH Fellows, and multiple research centres, showcasing the IMH’s interdisciplinary strengths and generating research momentum.
We began the year with a full‑day workshop on choice at the beginning and end of life. The event brought together around 40 colleagues and revealed significant synergies in research interests and methodological approaches. This was followed by a research generator, where colleagues shared ongoing projects and identified new avenues for collaboration. The generator led directly to colleagues meeting to explore joint bids, demonstrating clear impact on research development.
In Epiphany term, we hosted Law & Medicine in Popular Culture, a screening of Vera Drake followed by a discussion of the legal and ethical issues raised in the film. Run in collaboration with Durham CELLS, the event attracted both students and academic colleagues and successfully promoted the Medical Law & Ethics LLM and the Medical Humanities MA. It also showcased the strength of interdisciplinary research at Durham, with postgraduate students producing blog posts and LinkedIn reflections that extended the event’s reach and engagement.
The following month, our collaboration with CHESS/the Measurement Lab produced Measuring at the Beginning and End: A Critical Eye on Health Metrics. This workshop drew 15 participants and highlighted clear potential for cross‑centre partnerships.
Our final event of 2025/6 was an online reading group discussing Alice Wong’s Disability Intimacy. Although attendance was affected by communication issues, interest in an online reading group remains strong, and we anticipate higher engagement at future meetings. A planned work‑in‑progress session for June 2026 did not run, likely due to timing shortly after the assessment period; this will inform future scheduling.
Across the year, our programme has brought people together, sparked new collaborations, showcased interdisciplinary strengths, and created platforms for shared work. These foundations position us well for deeper engagement and more ambitious joint activity in the coming year. Highlights will include the 2027 Health Ethics and Law UK & Ireland Conference in September 2027, hosted by IMH and Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences), bringing together scholars from the medical humanities, law, medicine and philosophy from across the world.
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