Wellcome Centre grant for research project
This project is a collaboration between Thierry Jutel from Film Studies, Meredith Marra from Linguistics Annemarie Jutel, from the Faculty of Health and Susan Kelly from the University of Exeter. Their project, Are You Sure? Diagnosis, Truth and Configurations of Power will explore the representation of diagnosis by diagnosticians as well as in popular culture, and investigate how the use of these authoritative terms may be used to reinforce the transformative power of diagnosis and to protect medicine’s social status and control.
Associate Professor Meredith Marra is pleased to be able to offer a language-focused lens on diagnosis: “Bringing our disciplinary perspectives together is going to be a real strength of the project. For example, as a sociolinguist, I’m well aware that sounding (un)certain and being (un)certain are two very different things.”
Associate Professor Jutel says the grant will be used to hold a workshop to explore these concepts and lay the foundations for further research.
“My contribution will be in the area of the representation of truth and certainty in popular culture and scoping a multi-media exhibit at the Wellcome Collection in London.”
The Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health is a new research centre based at the University of Exeter dedicated to providing innovative approaches to enabling health and well-being across the life course. The Centre is connected to the larger global charitable foundation, the Wellcome Trust, an organisation which funds blue skies and medical humanities research and runs the Wellcome Collection, a London museum and library exploring health, life and our place in the world.
The team plans to use this phase of the research as a stepping stone to apply for a Wellcome Trust Project Grant for a bigger project exploring patient experiences, institutional settings of diagnosis and medical certainty and uncertainty.