Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities

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Hurray – 102 times hurray!

Today, Birgit Rausing turns 102. She is especially present in our thoughts today, and it is no coincidence that the wonderful Åsa Hansdotter chose this very day to publish her article about the appointment to the Birgit Rausing Professorship in Medical Humanities, with a focus on empathy and compassion in clinical contexts.

A very warm welcome to Eivind Engebretsen, who will take up the professorship on 1 January 2027! We could write pages and pages about how much we are looking forward to working with you, but today, we’ll actually let our blog readers click through and read more for themselves. There is one quote we simply have to share here, though. Hardly surprising which one.

Birgit Rausing – here’s to you, today and every day!

”It is a great honour to step into this role and to have been selected from 72 highly qualified applicants from around the world. The Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities is already a strong and innovative environment for interdisciplinary research and education. Thanks to Birgit Rausing’s personal commitment and generous donation, a unique environment for medical humanities has developed at Lund University. I am delighted and humbled to take on this role”

New professorship: “Empathy is more than a personal quality” | Faculty of Medicine, Lund University

October 26, 2026

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Sandblom Day 22 October 2026

Every year around this time, the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, in close collaboration with the Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities, organises Sandblom Day in memory of the late Philip Sandblom. This year’s theme is The Healing Power of Creativity, and Sandblom Day will take place at Forum Medicum in Lund on the afternoon of 22 October. Everyone is welcome!

This year’s recipient of the Sandblom Prize is Professor Emerita Fiona Sampson, whom Agata Garpenlid has interviewed in a wonderful piece: Interview with Fiona Sampson

The citation for the award reads:

“Fiona Sampson is awarded the prize for her significant pioneering contributions to the field of medical humanities, both as a theorist and practitioner of Writing in health and social care between 1988 and 2005, and for her distinguished work as a poet and academic writer.”

The day will also celebrate another prize winner, Johan Goksör, who will receive the award for best Master’s thesis:

“Taking the idiot care seriously” – Physicians’ perspective on children’s development and care at Möllevångshemmet in the late nineteenth century.
Johan Goksör has written a thorough, well-documented and well-structured Master’s thesis with a historical focus. In his thesis, he worked with archival material from Möllevångshemmet in Lund, which opened in 1878 as Sweden’s first county council-funded institution for the care and education of children with intellectual disabilities in the county.

Sandblom Day also marks the end of the Art as Care course, which has been held for the second time. As last year, an exhibition of the same name will open during Sandblom Day.

Art as Care is a course involving several affiliates of the Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities, with the Centre’s directors Martin Garwicz and Katarina Bernhardsson responsible for the course. It is aimed at students from different faculties and professional degree programmes, as well as healthcare professionals.

Programme Sandblom Day 22 oktober 2026

14:00 The Sandblom Day – What and Why?

Welcome Address by Katarina Bernhardsson
Assistant Centre Director for Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities
Associate Professor Literary Studies, Lecturer in Medical Humanities

14:10 The Workshop of Filthy Creation: Finding Meaning in the Mess

The Philip Sandblom Prize Lecture 2026 

is held by Fiona Sampson 
Professor Emerita, MBE FRSLSenior Research Fellow, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford

14:50 How Philip Sandblom got Eduardo Chillida’s sculpture

“Campo Campo Espacio de Paz” to Lund
Grandsons in Conversation:

Stefan Gautschi (Grace Sandblom Endowment) meets
Mikel Chillida (Chillida Leku Museum, San Sebastián)

15:20 Presentation of the Sandblom Student Prize

15:30 Short Break

15:45 The Healing Power of Music – a 15-minute musical interlude

Alise Plavane, vocals, accompanied by
Eric Schoeffler (Stockholm Music Group)

16:00 Opening of the Special Exhibition ART CARE

Opening Remarks by Karin Heri, Embassy of Switzerland in Sweden
Presentation of the artworks and their creators, participants of the course “Art as Care” at the Faculty of Medicine
The exhibition is curated by the Swiss artists Frantiček Klossner & Victorine Müller

16:30 Concluding Remarks, Exhibition Tour & Fika

Remembering Philip Sandblom

Read an article: Philip Sandblom | Faculty of Medicine, Lund University

Grace Sandblom, Philip Sandbloms widow, created a special foundation in 2003 for a yearly manifestation on Philip Sandblom’s birthday 29 October. The theme should be “humanities and medicine” at the Faculty of Medicine. We at Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities are honoured to be a part of this yearly celebration.

We also want to include a title to your “reading list” – a must read if you ask us: Creativity and illness | Lund University Press

October 16, 2026

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Network Meeting in Lund 20-21 October 2026

….for the Nordic Network for Narratives in Medicine, a Nordic (duh!) network that just keeps growing. The same applies to the interest in the network meetings. Approximately every 1.5–2 years, members are invited to these network meetings. The meetings are academic conferences, really, open to researchers, teachers and students, as well as to representatives from healthcare. Papers are primarily in Danish, Swedish or Norwegian, but in recent years the network has also welcomed contributions in English for non-Scandinavian-speaking members and audience.

In 2022, Lund had the privilege of hosting the conference; in 2024 it took place in Tromsø, and last year in Copenhagen. And now it is back in Lund again!

This year’s theme:
Narratives in Medicine: Human Dimensions in a Tech-Driven Healthcare and Society

Call for Papers

The full Call for Papers in English can be found further down in a PDF. The deadline for abstracts of no more than 200 words is 5 June, to be sent to Asa.Thormahlen@med.lu.se.

In addition to the abstract, the document should also include:
– Any specific preference for the day on which you would like to present your paper (20 or 21)
– A short speaker biography of approximately 50 words, including name and organisation

We welcome papers in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, but also in English if you prefer. You should write the abstract in the language in which you intend to present your paper. Papers should be suitable for a 15-minute presentation.

We will notify authors of accepted papers by 19 June (before we put wreaths in our hair and celebrate Swedish Midsummer), and the full programme will be finalised by the end of August.

It is also possible to take part in the network meeting without presenting a paper. Registration will open no later than when the programme is finalised.

Call for papers Nordic Network 2026_bildsattDownload
April 22, 2026

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Lund is a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network

On the 31st of October 2025, Lund became a member of the Unesco Creative Cities Network in the field of Literature – an international recognition of its vibrant literary landscape. With strong public libraries, an active civil society, and a rich community of writers, Lund deepens its cultural engagement. As a haven for persecuted authors and host of Litteralund, Sweden’s largest festival for children’s and youth literature, Lund now expands its global collaborations.

Lund University got a special mentioning in the announcement:

“Lund University will convene an international conference on narrative medicine, exploring how storytelling can foster empathy and enhance patient care.”

Guess who’s responsible for this splendid suggestion? Well, Katarina Bernhardsson and Marin Garwicz, the centre leadership at Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities, of course!

Lund is the 4th Swedish city of the UNESCO Creative City Network. Hooray for us = Lund, Lund University and BRCMH!

November 4, 2025

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Are you our new full professor?

Thanks to a generous donation from the Birgit Rausing Foundation for Medical Humanities, Sweden, we are we are announcing a position as full professor, to focus primarily on research, but also on education in the field of medical humanities. Deadline for applications, in English, is 31 October 2025.

The professor will be employed by the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University and is linked to Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities. We welcome applicants from a wide range of academic backgrounds. Given the interdisciplinary profile of the position, applicants will be assessed by representatives from a number of academic disciplines. The position includes a start-up package of SEK 1 million per year for the first three years.

Since 2021, Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities (BRCMH) has been working to develop and implement medical humanities at Lund University and to promote medical humanities in healthcare. We see medical humanities as an inclusive, broad and heterogeneous field of knowledge that concerns education, research and clinical practice relevant to medicine and healthcare. The approach is interdisciplinary and may include concepts and methods from the humanities, social sciences or the arts, but also law, economics or engineering. The position reflects medical humanities in this broad sense.

Read the entire announcement here: Birgit Rausing Professor of Medical Humanities, with focus on empathy and compassion in a clinical context and please help us to spread the word to colleagues and networks!

What kind of place is this?
Just to put this announcement – wonderful in itself – in a broader context: Lund University truly believes in international recruitment with interdisciplinary profiles:  
Lund University launches largest-ever global recruitment drive for researchers | Lund University

Why Lund University?
Lund University – an excellent choice | Lund University

Why Sweden?
Working in Sweden – quality of life, democracy and equal rights | Lund University

July 9, 2025

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Medical Humanities at Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies at Lund University

Lund University values interdisciplinary research. The Pufendorf Institute for Advances Studies, inaugurated 2009 in one of Lund’s most beautiful buildings, is an incubator for new interdisciplinary research initiatives.

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In recent years, medical humanities have been a constant “visitor” at the institute and benefited from the opportunities to pursue a wide range of research activities. 

Pufendorf IAS prides itself with supporting interdisciplinary research ideas that are innovative, and in a very early stage, not yet ripe for more conventional external funding (hence the “incubator”. Did it lead to anything, you ask?

  • We can’t be entirely sure if the newest, biggest, project until now would have been a reality without the Advanced Study Group that started in 2021 or not. But it sure didn’t hurt. Read more about this grand project here:

Miljoner till narrativ medicin – Birgit Rausing Centrum för Medicinsk Humaniora (in Swedish)

Stor donation till forskning om berättandets kraft i vården (also in Swedish)

  • What came first? The granted application of an Advanced Study Group at Pufendorf IAS called Empathy and Compassion or the BRCMH Research Theme during the years 2021-2024? Tough call. What we do know is that we are so close to finally be able to announce for a Professor in Medical Humanities with Focus on Empathy and Compassion in a Clinical Context. And yes, as soon as that announcement is open (we hope any week now), we’ll put it here too!

Neither of these two strategic initiatives would have been possible without the Birgit Rausing Foundation for Medical Humanities – we’re thrilled and happy and filled with anticipation.

June 23, 2025

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Long time – no see!

It’s true. We have been discussing if we should put this blog to bed for good, since it and Sleeping Beauty seem to have similar level of activity. But let’s give it (the blog) the kiss of life again, shall we?

It is nearly impossible to do a comprehensive re-cap of all the things that have happened here during the last couple of years: Let’s just say “It hasn’t been boring”. During 2025 the Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities has (so far)

  • Bragged about our comprehensive report (made in 2024, in Swedish – we’re sorry…)
  • Got a new board
  • Got a new kind of funding
  • Got new guidelines including new assignments (short term and long term)
  • Got new rules for affiliation, i e we have no staff employed at the centre (but wait and see)
  • Held on to the Centre Management (Martin Garwicz is centre manager and Katarina Bernhardsson is assistant manager. Johan Mårtensson is also part of the management team and Åsa Thormählen too.)

Easiest way to sift through all of this is to go to our website. Start here:

Our mission and organisation | Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities

The centre has also celebrated two generous donations from the Birgit Rausing Foundation for Medical Humanities – one to ensure a professor in Medical Humanities with focus on empathy and compassion in a clinical context (based at the Faculty of Medicine) and one for a five year project in Narratives in Medicine (based at the Joint faculties for Humanities and Theology).

All the networking and hard work during the past years with making Medical Humanities and the centre known to the world (well, at least at Lund University) has truly paid off: On Monday, we’re welcoming former and new affiliated staff members! Our crew is not only huge (soon 40 people), but also a wonderful display of interdisciplinarity at it’s best.

Affiliated staff | Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities

So. A collective deep breath: First we’ll plunge into the Swedish summer (we all check out around mid July, back again late August. Yes we do appreciate being Swedish Government employees) and then we’ll take Manhattan. No, sorry, the autumn term.

June 11, 2025

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A guest blog post: “…. very nearly perfect. Some thoughts after an Erasmus-visit at BRCMH”

The month of February is often rather dreary here in Lund. What a treat then to be able to welcome Linda Hamrin Nesby here during her Erasmus-week – and she brought blue sky as well. We asked her to write a guest blog post on her experiences here. Enjoy!

I came to Lund from Norway as part of an Erasmus staff training exchange late February. The intent of the visit was twofold, namely, to get a grasp of the interdisciplinary activities at the center both due to leadership, research, and education. But also, more specific to talk to contributors at BRCMH about their experiences at interdisciplinary supervision of PhD-student – a subject of special interest to me as I am about to write a book about PhD-supervision.

Jonathan Widstrand and Johan Mårtensson very generously shared experiences from their own PhD-experiences, and Johan also talked about how to supervise students on his own – having a different background than himself. Being in an interdisciplinary environment the connection between researchers from different disciplines were often taken for granted. Yet being curious and openminded and truly caring about the candidates were a premise for the success: “They are the oldest of my children, but somehow also the last” – as Johan so aptly quoted one of his colleges at Max Planck.

I had wonderful thought-provoking conversations with both Jonatan, Johan, Martin Garwicz and Katarina. However, the thing that perhaps made the strongest impression on me was the Katarina’s class with a group of medical students. They had just had their first autopsy. Together with Katarina, an amanuensis, and a senior doctor they were now reading three short poems about the subject. One of the poems (by physician-poet John Stone) went like this:

In the chest

in the heart

was the vessel

was the pulse

was the art

was the love

was the clot

small and slow

and the scar

that could not know

the rest of you

was very nearly perfect.

Seeing the eight young students sitting around an oval table, leaning over the sheet of paper with the poems, made me think how they might have leaned over the body at another table some days before. I was struck with the respect, curiosity, and interpretative skills they laid bare when they first talked about the autopsy with the amanuensis – and how the same qualities were present when reading the poems. The shared reading that Katarina did with the young students that afternoon in a seminar room at Forum Medicum illustrated to me the potential of interdisciplinary education. I am thankful for being invited in to see what medical humanities is and what can happen when medicine and literature meet and adds something to one another.

Linda Hamrin Nesby,
UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsᴓ

March 22, 2024

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Premiere for Film@Forum

We have had an intense winter/spring here at the Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities. Those of you who work in academia can guess why. Application deadlines. Despite the fact that we have a generous donation from the Birgit Rausing Foundation for Medical Humanities and an ambitious co-financing from the Faculty of Medicine, we need additional external funding to conduct all the research projects we want. It’s everyday life at a university in Sweden, it’s everyday life for us too.

And imagine when the application is finally submitted and you get to engage in something completely different: Cinema!

On March 5 at 5 p.m., we will host the Faculty of Medicine’s only (?) film club for the first time: Film@Forum – of course in the new fine Forum Medicum. Now both the stairs and the large screen in the Forum foyer will come to good use. We will show “The Children Act” and then hold a subsequent conversation with invited guests. Issues of children’s self-determination in health care, deputyship and somatic compulsory care, and the possibility of refusing life-saving treatment are discussed.

The initiator is Lars Hagander, Professor of Paediatric Surgery and Public Health and co-worker at BRCMH. Also participating are Pia Dellson, physician, poet and film scholar and Elisabet Björklund, associate professor of film studies – both also valued employees at BRCMH.

Read more about the other speakers during the evening, about the film, about how to sign up, and about the fact that you need to bring a pillow to sit on here: Film@Forum: The Children Act | Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities (lu.se)

Reportedly, Film Forum has already become the “talk of the Faculty“. I’m making an educated guess that it’s not because we’re offering popcorn…
Read the nice article on the Intramed (in Swedish), published today as well (kudos Sofia B Liljedahl): Filmklubbsstart: Världspremiär på storskärm & popcorn, 5 mars i Trappan | Intramed

March 1, 2024

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New training for residents, a course “of the people, by the people, for the people”

We have previously reported on educational initiatives for students in various professional education programmes at Lund University. But we are also working on educational initiatives for current healthcare professionals as well. The latest initiative is an entire course, which is aimed at resident physicians.

Resident physicians need to benefit from different types of professional development, and they are keen to ensure that the competence development they undergo corresponds to the goals established by the National Board of Health and Welfare. One such (sub)goal all residents are subject to, regardless of specialty, is described as follows:

Target a2: Ethics, diversity and equality; The specialist physician shall:

  • demonstrate knowledge of the meaning of medical-ethical principles and be able to identify ethical problems and analyse them in a structured way
  • be able to handle value conflicts in the daily work
  • be able to treat people as individuals and with respect regardless of gender, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation and age

One of our employees at the Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities, Jonatan Wistrand, stated back in 2021 that there were few courses for resident physicians to attend that fulfilled this sub-goal. And he knew what he was talking about, because he himself was just doing his specialist training. What was mainly missing were courses where university-affiliated researchers from different disciplines collaborated with healthcare professionals – an important combination to achieve both clinical anchoring and academic height.

Thus, Jonatan began to talk about creating a course with solid scientific foundation and with authentic examples from healthcare. And he quickly got several directors of studies in Region Skåne on board. My guess is that they prefer to spend competence development funds on initiatives developed at Lund University, by researchers and physicians, with researchers and physicians and for physicians.

Course coordinator Jonatan “packaged” the content and engaged several other employees as teachers: the historian of ideas and science Anna Tunlid, the literary scholar Katarina Bernhardsson, the physician and poet Pia Dellson and the film scholar Elisabeth Björklund.

So – ready to launch? Hardly. It’s one thing to create a really good course, but if no one can find it or can sign up for it, then it’s not exactly a success. Thanks to the Faculty of Medicine’s commissioned education unit, the course got its practical (white?) coat: Budget, website, registration information, premises, refreshments, texts for newsletters – everything fell into place: Course for resident physicians: Ethics, diversity and equality | Faculty of Medicine (lu.se)

We got as much as 21 registrations – more than we expected being a brand new “training provider”. We both hope and believe that this course will be able to be given to more physicians eventually. Personally, I dream of making a digital version of this initiative, so that other employers in Sweden can offer it to their resident physicians. In due course…

October 5, 2023

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