In this spotlight we hear from fellow Ipshita Nath, Post-Doctoral Fellow at Department of History (History of Medicine), University of Saskatchewan, Canada to find out how impactful her time at the University was and how they have progressed since.
“My experience as a LIAS Visiting Fellow at the University of Leicester allowed me to liaise with scholars in the fields of history, law, and clinical sciences, as well as medical practitioners (respiratory diseases) in the UK.
“This helped me plan my next research project tentatively titled, Diseased Behind Bars: Histories of Tuberculosis in Indian Prisons, Past and Present, spanning the nineteenth century to the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. This study will consider prisons as distinct medical sites for TB investigation, focusing on specialized research regarding their unique limitations and failures. This is critical given that the recent improvements in India’s TB control metrics are not reflected in prisons.
“The Lancet Public Health, in July 2023, has brought to light that prisoners in India are five times more at risk of TB as compared to the civilian population, this project would be timely and pertinent. The situation in Indian prisons is all the more glaring because while the performance in various metrics of TB control improved overall in the country (according to the TB Report of 2022), the same is not observed in prisons.
“Furthermore, TB in Indian prisons has only been given cursory attention by medical historians, which would make my study the first dedicated monograph on TB control and management measures in Indian prisons, aimed at revealing historical continuities in limitations, by mapping them alongside developments in penal reforms and public health. It will particularly highlight how TB measures translate differently in case of incarcerated populations that are an under-served section of society, in comparison to the free population, thereby revealing links between prison spaces and TB infection.
“This makes it necessary to examine prisons as a unique medical site of investigation requiring specialized research. For this study, I will create an interdisciplinary methodological approach in medical humanities by incorporating ethnographic tools to address the limitations in archival materials, thus marking an advance over the existing scholarship on TB in India.
“Furthermore, the fellowship provided me tremendous exposure and the resources to initiate and participate in a number of activities. I organized a conference: Personal Writing and Textual Practices in the British Empire, C19th-20th, One-day conference, University of Leicester, Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies (LIAS), Friday 14 April 2023.
“I gave a talk, ‘Land of Pestilence’: Death, Disease, and ‘Doctorly’ Memsahibs in Colonial India: Centre for Victorian Studies, Spring Seminar Series: CVS, University of Leicester, UK. 29h March, 2023. I also chaired a panel for the University of Leicester, School of History, politics, and international relations (HyPIR) conference on health and diseases. Furthermore, I initiated a round-table discussion on Tuberculosis in prisons with a multidisciplinary cohort.”