A warm welcome to Ruben Verwaal, who is visiting the Institute for Medical Humanities until Friday 29 May.
Ruben focuses on how experiences of health, disease, and disability are shaped by medicine, culture, and society. As curator at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, he specialises in collaborating with experts-by-experience to co-curate inspiring exhibitions that invite contemplation, learning and healing. He is also a historian of the body, deafness and medicine, and published Bodily Fluids, Chemistry and Medicine in the Eighteenth-Century Boerhaave School (Palgrave Macmillan 2020), and Blood, Sweat and Tears: A History of Bodily Fluids (August Books 2026).
As Honorary Fellow at the Visual & Material Lab, Ruben will dedicate his time to researching how participatory practices with ‘care heritage’ can deepen the cultural value of medical and care heritage objects, as well as strengthen learning and healing among experts-by-experience, curators, and exhibition visitors alike. His central case study will be the Yo, Doc, Listen Up! exhibition on Deafness, hearing difference and inclusive healthcare. This research is part of the ‘Valuable and Healing’ project (2024–2026), conducted by a Dutch Consortium of Healthcare Heritage Collections and supported by a grant from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.
Ruben is also an Honorary Fellow in our Institute for Medical Humanities.
As part of Ruben’s visit, we are hosting a book launch for his new publication Blood, Sweat and Tears on 11 May – please find out more and register to attend through Eventbrite!
