We are delighted to welcome Rebecca Jackson as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Affective Experience Lab and the Measurement Lab, continuing her time at the Institute of Medical Humanities after joining us as a Bridging Fellow in October 2024. She holds a PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at Indiana University-Bloomington (USA).
Read on for our latest catch up with Rebecca about her upcoming Postdoctoral Research work.
If your research was an image, what would it look like and why?
A standard glass measuring jug that is melting. I think this image gets across how I feel about measurement in health and medicine: nothing about standardisation is as stable as it may appear. Because human bodies and social needs change, the environment changes, materials change, measurement too is always in the process of changing in its relationship to us, whether we admit it or not. I study measures that embrace change, idiosyncrasy, and variability – what I call “non-standard measurement,” as I think that understanding how these kinds of measuring practices have succeeded in the past is essential for guiding health measures in the future.
What will you be doing during your Postdoctoral Research Associate position?
I will be a part of the Affective Experience Lab and the Measurement Lab, bridging the two labs’ themes with a research project on the history and philosophy of individualised health measures. The Affective Experience Lab focuses on the parts of human experience that are difficult or impossible to entirely capture in words or symbols. This includes emotions, sensations, feelings – perhaps what some would even call “vibes”! These ephemeral parts of us are very real and impact health and wellbeing. In that sense, one might think that this lab might be at odds with the focus of the Measurement Lab, as in that lab we study the ways that social, political, and institutional forces shape what measurement in health and wellness looks like. We see the two labs as actually different sides of the same coin. My research, for example, focuses on nonstandard measuring practices of the past and present that have prioritised the use of senses and/or are highly tailorable, such as being designed to reflect the self-reported feelings/experiences of individual people and their values.
What experiences in your past year as a Bridging Fellow in The Platform will you be drawing on for your new position?
So much of what we do as researchers on a daily basis is about planning out big ideas within a dynamically changing future, while revising papers about research that has already concluded. It’s easy to live with one’s head constantly in the space of dreaming up possibilities or finishing past projects. I think some of the most important experiences I’ve had in the Platform have taught me the importance of enjoying what I’m doing now and investing in the relationships I’m building here. It’s important to “trust in where you are,” and make time to enjoy the fruition of relationships and collaborations that are currently being cultivated. For me, that will look like enjoying the Measurement Heretics reading group community I’ve been building since January of this year, and getting to know the people in my Labs better, as well as Platform partners like Recovery College Collective.
I’ve also been really inspired by the researchers who are in the Platform who daily advocate on behalf of the marginalised and draw attention to the unique barriers people who are disabled or disadvantaged by social and institutional structures (both in health spaces and academic spaces). Beyond research topics in neurodiversity studies, the impact of different forms of mobility and immobility on ways to be and thrive in a body, systemic injustice for those racialised and/or medicalised – researchers in the Platform also make a practice of advocating for themselves and one another in the workplace, knowing that building fairer and more inclusive spaces, policies, and expectations has to start in our own backyard first.
What makes The Platform the best place for your research?
The Platform is a great place for people whose research methods go across disciplinary boundaries to understand human health and wellness in its full complexity and individuality. No one here bats an eye about the fact that I’m a historian-philosopher hybrid with a background in mathematics and English, and that I come to the medical humanities through a desire to understand clinical measurement. There is a lot of support here for trying new methods for getting at what really matters in peoples’ lives (see my answer below for an example). There aren’t many research centres that would offer the opportunity for me to be in a lab that studies emotions and sensations of the body (Affective Experience Lab) at the same time as a lab that studies health measures and neurodiversity (Measurement Lab).
What new developments do you hope to see as a result of your research?
There’s a quote I really like by Satish Kumar, “The old story is a story of measurement. And the New Story is to bring measurement and meaning together.” Broadly, I hope to contribute to that New Story. I think through a better understanding of the history of measures, we can help offer a way forward with a positive program for characterising what meaningful measurement in health spaces can and should look like in the future. More specifically, I will be exploring a new method for doing history and philosophy of measurement: measurement origin stories. In comic books, “origin stories” are what we call the backstory of a hero or a villain that helps readers understand why they are the way that they are and get a more vivid sense of the stakes of the conflict. I plan to use oral history as a method for uncovering the life course of a health measure, from its beginnings to current uses, tracing any changes it underwent along the way. The most interesting aspects of measure development are not written about in published papers, so talking to people who were involved is the only way to find out. In order to guide revision (and reenvisioning) of health measures, we need to understand the messy history of how they became what they are – both the heroes and the villains.
Congratulations to Rebecca on her new position within The Platform, and we look forward to continuing to work with her.
