Suicide, Military, Medical, and Sexuality History, Occupational Health Research, and Pedagogical Innovation
Very excited to say that my article on the links between medical humanities and science fiction has been released today. The Girl or The Weapon This article considers Doctor Who, Captain America, and River Tam as separate entities with relations to the physical construction, abuse, and trauma of member of military service in history. I... Continue Reading →
Noting the exclusivity of inclusivity, I look at the rainbow poppy argument and homosexuality in the First World War #rainbowpoppy #poppy #homosexuality
The above image refers to an excellent initiative based in England and Wales that is focused on mental health support and suicide prevention for University Students. Contained within the booklet is guidance on how to support students suffering from ill mental health, statistics related to the number of student suicides, and initiatives designed to support... Continue Reading →
I'm in Islay today, finally taking my lunch after a long but great day in a school supporting young people get into university. It's decent work, but it looks likely my position will end in just over six months due to funding. In the best tradition of self-preservation, my search for a position related to... Continue Reading →
I wrote an article for Time Magazine on the history of military suicide that was published today! I never thought I would be able to write that sentence. I'm really proud of this, its a big thing for me, and continues my knowledge exchange and public engagement. At the end of this is the need... Continue Reading →
Your country still needs you: why the British army is running the same old campaign a century after WWI? Military Recruitment a Century Apart! - Read here: https://theconversation.com/your-country-still-needs-you-why-the-british-army-is-running-the-same-old-campaign-a-century-after-wwi-122755
The centenary of the First World War has been over now for almost a year. I count myself lucky as I started my PhD exactly 100 years from the beginning of the war, and I ended it the same way in 2018. Each year of my PhD I lived through the war vicariously through the... Continue Reading →
I don’t usually weblog, but this short piece about the importance and challenges of public history by the incredible Dr Jessica Meyer at Leeds University is an important read for the state of modern academia for historians.
I was on television last night. If you follow me on Twitter, then you will probably have seen this already. Given that I was speaking to Daniel Radcliffe for Who Do You Think You Are?, both I and my department were quite keen to publicise this event. Since the broadcast, there has been quite a lot more interest, and some very interesting discussions about historical research for factual television, letters from women to soldiers during the First World War, and the significance of the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Dud Corner. In other words, this bit of academic public engagement, me bringing my historical expertise to bear on a popular subject in a very public forum, went as well as I could have hoped when my meeting with Dan was filmed back in May.
What has made this experience slightly ironic, however, is the coincidence of the publication of…
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Body shaming in the military is not new. For centuries recruits have been tormented and shamed to encourage them to be fit to fight. However in the face of extreme Fat Shaming in the twenty-first century of both genders, this article considers the changing focus on the body in the last two centuries and discusses bullying, suicide, and abuse as part of the attainment of the perfect military body.
Today I read my name in a book for the first time! Excited does not cover it, so in this overly sentimental reflection of my 'tragic' life, I really just want to say thank you for the love and support to get me from the brink to a book!
Curating History: Dr Simon H. Walker 