The Scottish Gut Project
Gut disorders are much more common in Scotland than previously thought, and such disorders are frequently mis-communicated. This is what the Scottish Gut Project aims to improve: at its core are issues of communication and the role of language in conveying and shaping understandings of our digestive system and its links with mental health. In order to investigate the communication of these areas in contemporary discourse we will first historicise the gut-brain relationship and then discover new methods of exploring it through the creative arts. The project breaks new ground by bringing health practitioners and patients from IBS Support Group Glasgow and Crohn’s and Colitis Clyde Network together for the first time with humanities scholars and scientific and medical researchers specializing in food and digestion. Utilizing this unique combination of patient perspectives and multidisciplinary expertise, the objective is to identify strategies for improved communication of gut conditions and their impact on psychological wellbeing.
The Scottish Gut Project will take the form of five meetings (involving presentations, small and whole group discussion, and practical interactive sessions), followed by a postgraduate workshop, a symposium, and a series of outputs targeting academic and general audiences.
Funded by: Royal Society of Edinburgh
Start date: 2021
End date: 2023
Units:
- University of Glasgow: College of Arts, School of Modern Languages and Cultures
- University of Strathclyde: School of Humanities
Keywords: Digestive HealthFoodGut-BrainMental HealthScotland
Associated people: