I completed my PhD thesis “Managing convicts: understanding criminals” at the University of Leeds in 2018. In it I argued that the creation and development of the English convict prison system during the nineteenth century depended to a significant extent on the medical men who were employed there. I focused on the practical work-lives and research of prison medical officers in five Victorian government-run convict prisons.
After graduation I moved to the Thackray Museum of Medicine where I continued to research history of medicine, expanding to global medicine, although with a British focus, from Roman times to present.
Teaching
I have 7 years experience in tutoring and lecturing at the University of Leeds:
University of Leeds Undergraduate Teaching: Level 1
- “Introduction to History of Science,” 2016 (Guest Lecturer)
- “History of Modern Medicine,” 2015-17 (Postgraduate Tutor)
- “Magic Science and Religion,” 2014-15 (Postgraduate Tutor)
- “History of Psychology,” 2014-16 (Postgraduate Tutor)
- “Interpreting Technology,” 2013-14 (Postgraduate Tutor)
- “The Scientific Revolution,” 2011-12 (Postgraduate Tutor)
University of Leeds Undergraduate Teaching: Level 2
- “History of Psychiatry and Mental Health,” 2015-17 (Postgraduate Tutor)
- “Science, Society and Culture in the Industrial Age,” 2015-16 (Postgraduate Tutor)
University of Leeds Module Development;
- Online course “Living with Technology,” 2015-16 (Course Developer and Museum Coordinator)
- “Interpreting Technology,” 2012-13 (Course Developer and Museum Adviser)
University of Leeds, Teaching with Objects Guide
In January 2018 I wrote a comprehensive guide for teaching history of science, technology and medicine using historical objects from the University’s collection. Particularly attention was paid to History of Medicine.
Museum Workshops and Outreach:
I ran a number of workshops for visiting schools and sometime adult, primarily these are history of medicine and surgery but will soon be expanded to include psychology and mental health.
Laura Sellers 