Taking place across our Autumn/Winter season, Thackray Insights invites you to delve deep into eye­ opening topics and explore the unheard stories of medicine.

Blood provides a unique and valuable perspective on contemporary social relationships the world over due to its powerful symbolic meanings and essential role in healthcare. Its close ties to how we live and identify, our relationships and the boundaries we set become ever more prescient when it comes to the practice and perceived limitations of blood donation.

This talk provides a critical account of how understandings of race have taken shape over the emergence of this global healthcare infrastructure. Join us as we explore how people make sense of who should donate blood for whom and why – how do these conversations shape how global communities are imagined, and with what social and ethical consequences?

This is an Insights Deep-Dive Lecture where two leading academics present an in-depth look into a topic.

About the Speakers
Dr Jieun Kim is an Associate Professor of East Asian Studies (University of Leeds), where she examines how social inequalities are challenged based on perceptions of social and bodily differences.

Dr Ros Williams is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociological Studies (University of Sheffield). Since 2023 they have been an Associate Director of the ESRC Digital Good Network.