As my three weeks as a Bright Ideas Fellow
at the Genomics Forum end I can’t help but wonder at the whirlwind adventure
that this has been. First, I would like
to thank everyone at the Forum for being absolutely lovely and making me feel
welcome. The accommodation and the
office were great. And I really like
Edinburgh – what a peaceful and beautiful city it is. I am looking forward to coming back to it
many times over.
I used my time at the Forum to do a bit of
travelling around the Genomics Network.
I presented my work on pandemics and digital technologies at the Cesagen/Department
of Sociology event at the University of Lancaster and at Egenis’ Health,
Technology and Society research group at the University of Exeter. These were invaluable experiences. They allowed me, for the first time, to talk
about my book project (on pandemics in the media) and, as a result, I have a
much clearer idea of what the book needs to look like. Being able to visualize the project is
important to me as a writer and I am very grateful for these invitations and
for hospitality and generosity of my fellow academics at these
institutions. Plus, I believe that I
have made connections that will lead to fruitful collaborations in the
future.
I have also travelled to the 4S/EASST
conference in Copenhagen, which was a good opportunity to connect with several
of my colleagues.
Finally, I presented my work at a CaféScientifique here in Edinburgh. This was
a bit scary as it required making my work accessible to the general public and
also speaking without assistance of slides or media clips. As a media studies person, I love my clips
and images so I was frightened! But it
went over well, and I applaud those who braved rain and fog to come out for the
event. I did reenact a film scene or two
– but I guess you can see the video for those embracing moments. It was liberating to just talk to folks about
my work. I want to thank Steph Wright
for organizing the event, for shuttling me to and fro, and for introducing me
to Simon’s Cat.
It was a busy and rewarding time here at
the Forum. Thank you everyone for making
it possible!
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