For our first event of the second season, we had a stimulating conversation with Prof Paul Crawford, who is Professor of Health Humanities at the University of Nottingham.  We spoke with Paul about his ground-breaking work as the world’s first professor of health humanities and his research into how creative practices advance health and mental well-being. A highlight of our conversation was surely hearing about Paul’s new campaign called What’s Up With Everyone with Aardman, the makers of Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit.

Here are some of our key takeaway messages from the conversation and some good reasons why you should listen to the podcast to find out more about Paul’s fascinating work.

The joyfulness of arts & humanities

We spoke with Paul about his coinage of the concept “health humanities” – which highlights the contributions of arts and humanities to health and wellbeing outside strictly medical contexts. Paul specifically highlighted the joy that arts and humanities bring to our lives. His own story about living through lockdown and the pandemic served as a great entry point to further explore this joyfulness – and do justice to it. We shouldn’t assume that what brings us joy carries less weight in the serious context of healthcare.

The inclusivity of arts & humanities

Paul’s vision of health humanities struck us as fundamentally inclusive. As a concept, “health humanities” frames our understanding of healthcare as wider and more inclusive than medical care. Similarly, Paul’s approach to arts & humanities is driven by principles of inclusivity. His recent work with the animation company Aardman is certainly an example of this inclusive approach. Health humanities does not just promote the exclusive engagement with high culture, but also embraces pop culture. Thus, Paul reminded us that arts & humanities are for everyone – which is what makes them such a powerful resource for health.

Why we should collaborate

We were grateful to Paul for celebrating the value of collaboration – and indeed, conversation! Paul talked about his own interdisciplinary trajectory and how he continues to value exchange with others across disciplinary boundaries. What really drives innovation, according to Paul, is generating new perspectives on ongoing issues. That’s why being an outsider can be so fruitful. When you come at an issue from the outside, it offers a fresh perspective that may be unavailable to people on the inside. We took this a key reason why we should not succumb to “imposter syndrome”. Sometimes, what we don’t know is a virtue to see things afresh.

We are very grateful that Paul took the time to tell us more about his ground-breaking research in health humanities during a wonderful conversation. Of course, we couldn’t do justice to richness of Paul’s story and insights in this short summary. So do listen to the podcast to find out more!

Dieter and Ian