MancHSTM

@manchester.ac.uk @fbmh-uom.bsky.social @manchesterup.bsky.social

Book cover

Hot off the press: new #OpenAccess book, co-edited by our colleague Dr Amelia Bonea: #Women, #science, #engineering and #medicine in the twentieth century.
doi.org/10.7765/9781...
#HistSTM #HistSci

Frontiers | Antenatal preparation as care: birth stories and collective learning at work Distressing and harmful birth experiences are the norm even in well-resourced countries, and conventional antenatal education struggles to adequately prepare...

New article by CHSTM PhD and Honorary Research Fellow Dr Leah De Quattro:

De Quattro L (2025) Antenatal preparation as care: birth stories and collective learning at work. Front. Glob. Women's Health 6:1592538. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1592538

www.frontiersin.org/journals/glo...

Brandy will be in Manchester on 21 Oct, hosted by @manchstm.bsky.social and the Centre for the Study of Sexuality and Culture (CSSC) at @manchester.ac.uk. Watch this space (and blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/) for details.

Great to have you here!

Looking forward to presenting my research on breast cancer and breastfeeding at this event in September!

Fantastic news! Congratulations to Charlotte!!

The programme for the ESHS Early Career Network Meeting is available here:

eshs.org/2025-early-c...

We're looking forward to hosting the Early Career Network Meeting and the In-Between Meeting of the European Society for the History of Science (ESHS) in Manchester in September.

eshs.org/2025/07/11/e...

#histsci #histstm

Lawn with deck chairs and a redbrick university office building in the background.

CHSTM’s home, the Simon Building. Looks almost nice like this.

Dr James Sumner and a young boy with colourful headphones interacting with a robot toy at Dr Sumner's Electric Dreams stall. Photo by Dr Erin Beeston.

Photo of stall with vintage computer equipment and posters.

A couple of photos from Dr James Sumner's 'Electric Dreams' stall at last weekend's Universally Manchester festival.
universallymanchester.com #scicomm

. @manchester.ac.uk students: if you are interested in taking this unit as an option (for 10 or 20 credits), details are available here www.chstm.manchester.ac.uk/study/underg...
and here www.chstm.manchester.ac.uk/study/underg...

Amber: The hidden cost of Myanmar’s gem trade - The Mancunion Blood amber from Myanmar has yielded endless discoveries and taken the world by storm; the name seems fitting after the human rights atrocities tied to its trade.

Fascinating article on amber from Myanmar, which @manchester.ac.uk student Lauren Smith originally wrote as a blog post assignment for Dr Amelia Bonea's course unit on Fossils: Global Histories of Natural Heritage, Science and Empire.

mancunion.com/2025/05/22/a...

Next Tuesday!

There's still time to sign up.

Wrapped up our centre’s PGR lunch seminar series @manchstm.bsky.social
for the semester today🎉🎉 I had a wonderful time co-hosting it with my brilliant colleague Daniela Dandes and meeting so many friends. Grateful for the opportunity to learn so much over the past two years.

Wooo! Meaning you can read my first article, published 20 years ago! - back when we got offprints🗃️
(I’m so
Old)

The Bulletin of the John Rylands Library is unlocking - Manchester University Press Manchester University Press and the John Rylands Research Institute and Library are delighted to announce that from spring 2025 the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library will publish Open Access. This ...

The Bulletin of the John Rylands University is going to be #openaccess from tomorrow! Including the substantial back archive!

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/05...

Includes the wonderful paper on the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology (UMIST) by @manchstm.bsky.social PhD graduate
@erinbeeston.bsky.social
doi.org/10.7227/BJRL...

TODAY

MA History of Science, Technology and Medicine - course details (2025 entry) | The University of Manchester Research. Teaching and learning. Social responsibility. Discover more about The University of Manchester here.

Of course we also offer an MA course in History of Science, Technology & Medicine.

www.manchester.ac.uk/study/master...

Looking for a Masters course? Interested in science, communication, and public engagement?

Join our colleagues @manchstm.bsky.social for a FREE workshop: 'Rethinking #Neurodevelopment - From WHO Policies to #Neurodiversity and #Care'
Open to all, 17 June at 1pm @uniofmanchester.bsky.social #UoM Simon Building - see blog for Eventbrite 🔗

Photograph of a young woman holding sunflowers sitting in a throne-like chair, with three men standing behind her holding champagne glasses.

Congratulations to Alice Naisbitt, who successfully defended her PhD thesis on Science Diplomacy and the British Council! Also in the photo: the examiners, Dr Gordon Barrett and Prof Jon Agar, and one of the supervisors, Prof Simone Turchetti. The co-supervisor, Prof Kieron Flanagan couldn’t be here

Next Tuesday

You can read Leah's dissertation here:
research.manchester.ac.uk/en/studentTh...

SUMMARY New research explores how people learn about childbirth, and the impacts of knowledge practices observed in formal antenatal preparation. The study focuses on collective learning (storytelling, group-led sessions) while also considering the impacts of conventional practices (hospital procedure, midwife/teacher-led classes). The first part of this article introduces the project, with a closer look at advantages and limitations of midwife/teacher-led and group-led antenatal preparation. This qualitative research offers nuanced and grounded insights into how people learn about childbirth. Part two will be published in The Practising Midwife July 2025 issue. INTRODUCTION Childbirth is not an easy prospect and many birthing people find that standard childbirth education does not provide the preparation they need. Although positive impacts of participant-led formats are well accepted, most UK antenatal preparation uses a teacher-led class format. "Knowing Childbirth: Birth Stories and Collective Learning" is an ethnographic study exploring the role of storytelling, group-led formats and other collective practices in antenatal learning. This article introduces the research and summarises key differences between midwife/teacher-led and groupled settings. Other findings appear in the next issue of The Practicing Midwife, a forthcoming paper in Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, and the associated PhD thesis.

New article by CHSTM PhD graduate and honorary research associate Dr Leah de Quattro - based on research for her PhD dissertation:
Understanding Midwife-led and Group-led Antenatal Preparation: Part 1. The Practising Midwife. Volume 28, Issue 3, May 2025, Pages 37-39.
doi.org/10.55975/SGP...

Co-organising this conference, deadline to submit your proposal 13 May. We will open up registration for non-speakers later in the summer. Anyone with an interest is welcome irrespective of discipline, but students, ECRs and anyone working in extinction/conservation
especially welcome.

Interesting talk coming up @manchstm.bsky.social on how the Covid-19 lockdowns became a rallying point for skeptics and conspiracy theorists, forging new political and cultural identities.