Focusing on the emerging importance of studying critical medical humanities, the Department of English and Humanities at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) recently organized an exclusive seminar and workshop at its Mohammadpur main campus in the capital.

Titled "Physical Wounds in Literature: A Talk and Workshop on Critical Medical Humanities in 21st Century Bangladesh," the workshop was conducted by Farah Binte Bashir Dolon, a researcher in Medical Humanities and MA student in Comparative Literature at the University of Hyderabad in India.

Physical disabilities and sickness result in mental trauma and disturbance in everyday physical, social, and financial aspects that are reflected in contemporary literature across the globe. The 21st century is witnessing an increasing number of people suffering from psychological illness that has crossed the limits of medical sciences and entered the humanities arena, according to the researcher.

The relationship between psychological illness and physical illness, which has existed since prehistoric times, is prominently portrayed in postmodern literature and Franz Kafka’s works are noteworthy in this regard.

Medical humanities have branched out through the writings of Western authors such as Atul Gawande and Arthur W. Frank and Eastern authors like Siddhartha Mukherjee and Mahbub Mayukh Rishad, who are simultaneously doctors and authors. The session and workshop were theoretically based on the premises of their writings, alongside the aforementioned aspects.

The researcher Farah Binte Bashir focused on Manik Bandyopadhyay’s ‘Padma Nadir Majhi’ and ‘Pragoitihashik’, featuring a comparative study with Kafka’s Metamorphosis. Through Dr Mahbub Mayukh Rishad’s book ‘Tarkashajyay Mrityu’, the researcher demonstrated how literary studies in 21st-century Bangladesh have embraced medical humanities with disability studies, memory, nostalgia, and trauma studies.

The workshop was joined by Professor Kaiser Haq, Dean of the ULAB School of Arts and Humanities, alongside Arifa Ghani Rahman, Head of the Department of English and Humanities, Nadia Rahman, Coordinator at the MA in English at ULAB, and the faculty members and students of the Department of English and Humanities, and Department of Bangla Literature and Language.

“The Department of English and Humanities at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) constantly strives to explore new and innovative avenues for research and collaboration. Considering the prospects for future research in the field of Medical Humanities, which is not well established in Bangladesh yet, the Department saw this talk and workshop as a good way to introduce the field to its students and faculty members who can think about conducting research in ways that bridge the gap between science and the humanities,” Arifa Ghani Rahman, Head of the Department of English and Humanities at ULAB, told UNB.

The researcher and workshop conductor Farah Binte Bashir said, “ULAB has always been welcoming to such liberal discussions and the DEH deserves cordial appreciation for showing active interest in a relatively new topic such as medical humanities. The students and teachers of DEH and the Department of Bangla Literature and Language joined this session and workshop together to guide the field of thoughts of aspiring researchers, this is a matter of great joy for me and I had a wonderful time with wonderful scholars,” she said.

Farah Binte Bashir is currently pursuing her MA program in Comparative Literature at the Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad in India, where she is completing her major in Medical Humanities and minor in Music Studies. Her research interests include Disability Studies, Memory Studies, Trauma Studies, and South Asian Literature.