It was great to work together with colleagues in France and to learn from the many colleagues at King's who work in the interface between health and the humanities.
Professor Patrick ffrench, Professor of French
08 September 2026
Special journal issue on medical humanities published
Two King’s academics have co-edited a special journal issue on the history of the medical humanities, representing a major milestone in the field.
Professor Patrick ffrench, Professor of French in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, and Professor Neil Vickers, Professor of English Literature and the Health Humanities in the Department of English, are co-editors of a History of the Human Sciences special issue on ‘History and epistemology of the medical humanities’.
The issue was edited in partnership with Professor Céline Lefève of the Université Paris Cîté and represents the first comparative engagement with the field’s evolution in the UK, the US and France.
This work is the result of a collaboration between The Centre for the Humanities and Health at King’s and medical humanities colleagues based in Paris, with support from the King’s Together Seed Fund.
It was so exciting working with a team across Faculties at King’s and with our esteemed colleagues in Paris to produce the most complete history of the field to date. Especially gratifying is the fact that many of the articles have already been downloaded thousands of times, which shows how necessary the volume was and is.
Professor Neil Vickers, Professor of English Literature and the Health Humanities
Articles in the issue explore topics such as the philosophical underpinnings of medical humanities; the duality of care; the challenges of translating the word “care”; affect attunement; and the medical humanities and ageing.
In this story
Professor of French
Professor of English Literature and the Health Humanities