'In Memoriam': Celebrating the Silent Teachers
'Silent teachers', people who donate their bodies when they die in order to help to train the next generation of doctors, scientists, dentists and surgeons, are celebrated in a new University of Dundee anthology, In Memoriam.
The book, published by Discovery Press, the imprint of Dundee University Press that works alongside the creative writing programme, features work from internationally renowned artists and writers who collaborated with staff and students from the University to pay tribute to those individuals who donate their body to science.
Medical students, and creative writing students on the Writing Practice and Study MLitt course, explore the lives and achievements of the donors. Interviews with people, who intend to donate their body, and the families of those who have already done so, help to tell the stories of their lives and personalise the individuals who give hope to others after their own death.
Calum Colvin, one of Scotland's top contemporary artists and a Professor at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, has contributed original artwork to In Memoriam, which celebrates these lives in both words and in a series of beautiful images.
Award-winning writers Alan Warner, Christopher Reid, and John Carey also contribute new work to the book, which asks the reader to reflect on their own life, as well as those who donated their body to be used in medical research.
Kirsty Gunn, Professor of Creative Writing in the English programme, who wrote the book's introduction, said she had once attended an anatomical science lecture about the importance of students and scientists being able to work with real human bodies, and that it had left an indelible mark upon her.
"I can vividly remember how he talked, movingly and with conviction, about the solemnity of the human body after death, and about the importance of the human body as a site for understanding and furthering our enquiry into anatomical science," she said.
"He was sensitive about the ethical issues surrounding human life into death but very eloquently explained that by knowing more about the body we could know more about ourselves.
"Only the actual body would do, as no simulacrum or virtual computer generated version could grant the student and scientist such access to the mystery of our limbs and bones and organs. No plasticised look-alike could stand in for the vulnerabilities of our tissue and skin and flesh.
"So when I heard about the idea of producing a book based on those who had willingly given this precious gift to research, it seemed the ideal opportunity for my creative writing students to enter this scientific world, and make work in response to the inheritance each and every one of us come to, in the end.
"The pages of this book bring art and science together at the University of Dundee. Here in these pages are a range of internationally known writers and poets and artists who have all taken as a point of departure a consideration of the end of life. Hopefully In Memoriam will act as part of the reader's own contemplation of the role the body plays in our lives."
The book costs £9.99 and is available to purchase online via the University's online store, from Amazon and from all good booksellers.
An event launching the book, and celebrating those who give home after their death, was held on 18 February as part of the Saturday Evening Lecture Series. Professor Kirsty Gunn talked about the writers who contributed to the unique project; Professor Sue Black (Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification ) explained why the 'silent teachers' are helping to train the next generation of doctors, scientists, dentists and surgeons; and Professor Calum Colvin (DJACD) discusses the inspiration behind his stunning images and how they were made. A video of this event is available to view:
In Memoriam
By Kirsty Gunn, Alan Warner, John Carey, Christopher Reid, Aiden Day, Fiona Douglas, Edward Small and others; Images by Calum Colvin
ISBN: 9781845861391
£9.99
Posted: 28 March 2012
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