Dr Cat Beck

It's good to re-connect with you, Jane!
Yes, that's my plan! Either as an article in a special issue formed around the papers from our two panels at the conference, or as a stand alone article.

What a great experience! Had the pleasure to serve as chair/discussant on a fantastic panel on 'Methodological Challenges in Disability History: Conceptualizing Pre- and Early Modern Disability' at the ESSHC in Leiden yesterday.

Also a huge thank you to @elisaheinrich.bsky.social for your really fantastic and insightful discussant points. I forgot to tag you here before, too busy scribbling your words down! #ESSHC

Lots of familiar names in the programme that I didn't get to say hi to. If the lag time on my face memory meant you saw me and I seemed to blank you, apologies! Everyone's faces are a blur when there's so many of us together (especially when I'm at eye contact capacity 😅)

It's been a great couple of days at #ESSHC Leiden!

And finally Julia Gebke, speaking more on the project on Elisabethians' hospital in Vienna: "When bodies meet text. Searching for the female patients of the Hospital of the Elisabethians in Eighteenth Century Vienna" #ESSHC

And now shifting from religious sources to bioarchaeology! Hannah Grabmayer "Disability in Bioarchaeology - Exploring disability and the care for the disabled in 18th century Vienna on the basis of the human skeletal remains from the patients' cemetery of the Elisabethians' hospital" #ESSHC

Now Jenni Kuuliala "Malevolent magic as a cause for 'infirmity': Studying disability in the documents of the Roman inquisition" #ESSHC

Next up Rosamund Oates "Seeing through Deaf eyes: Researching Early Modern deafness" #ESSHC

And now for our companion session "Methodological Challenges in Disability History II: Tracing Early Modern Disability". We begin with Riikka Miettinen "Experiences of disability in Early modern Swedish sources- Opportunities and gaps" #ESSHC

And now Kofi Asihene "History, Disability, and Ghana: examining the concept of dis/ability in Early Modern Ghana" #ESSHC

Up next Julia Heinemann "Between alterity and familiarity: Disabled soldiers and the concept of "invalidity" in the early modern Habsburg monarchy" #ESSHC

My paper (coming up!) "The Disabling Sea? Early modern seafarers and a transnational-environmental history of impairment, difference and disorder" #ESSHC

Up first is Bianca Frohne "Crip Perspectives on Premodern Didability: Incorporating Chronic Illness, Pain and Trauma"

Ready for our early morning session at #ESSHC 2025 "Methodological Challenges in Disability History I: Conceptualising pre- and early modern disability"

These cruel benefit cuts will rob security from so many – but Labour will lose something crucial too | Frances Ryan The worst reforms since George Osborne will teach voters that politicians really are all the same. Is it worth it? asks Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

“This is austerity dressed up as reform, where the government cuts the money disabled people need to live on in order to balance the books, while claiming it’s all being done to help them.”

My col. on Labour’s sweeping disability cuts and mark of shame. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Thanks for coming and for your thoughtful questions!

Thanks to @drannaloismckay.bsky.social & @ecwliv.bsky.social for inviting me and giving me a chance to test out this work-in-progress methodology on you all!

two muppets wearing pirate hats are sitting at the steering wheel of a boat ALT: two muppets wearing pirate hats are sitting at the steering wheel of a boat

I finally made the leap to bluesky! In all honesty, I haven't been using twitter much since 2022, time to get back into engaging with things. Get ready for some boaty catch posts