Arya Ray
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aryaray.bsky.social
Arya Ray
@aryaray.bsky.social
Institute for Medical Humanities | gothicist exploring ghost stories in south asian literature
(he/him)
In about an hour today, I'll be talking about Bengali ghosts as part of Romancing the Gothic's talk series. When my grandfather told me these bedtime stories, I doubt he thought I'd make it the centre of my research but here we are.
Come along if you can!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/thakumar-j...
‘Thakumar Jhuli’ – The Ghost Stories of Bengali Folklore with Arya Ray
Arya Ray joins us to explore Bengali folklore
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Arya Ray
We are pleased to welcome a new member of the team: Xiao Ge has joined as Guest Editor for the Polyphony Meets China (PMC) project! Welcome Xiao!

thepolyphony.org/2025/11/10/n...
New Editor: Polyphony Meets China
We are pleased to welcome a new member of the team: Xiao Ge has joined as Guest Editor for the Polyphony Meets China (PMC) project.
thepolyphony.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Arya Ray
We're hiring 3 new editors! 2 general and 1 for reviews!

thepolyphony.org/2025/10/27/w...
We’re hiring! Editorial roles with The Polyphony
The Polyphony is seeking three Editors to join our team, two General Editors and one Reviews Editor.
thepolyphony.org
October 27, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Wondering what a Research Cabaret is? 🤔 Organiser and researcher @louisecreechan.bsky.social explains what you might expect at our @beinghumanfest.bsky.social event next month 🎭

Tickets: tinyurl.com/research-cab...
October 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Saurabh Chowdhury writes from an anthropological perspective to discuss the entanglements between evolutionary biological variations and modern sociocultural prejudices.
thepolyphony.org/2025/10/13/w...
We Are Where We Are: Evolution and the Modern World
Saurabh Chowdhury writes from an anthropological perspective to discuss the entanglements between evolutionary biological variations and modern sociocultural prejudices. Over millions of years, the…
thepolyphony.org
October 14, 2025 at 5:22 AM
I'm really happy to see graphic medicine becoming an incisive and critical field in India, so much great work happening in the area!
Sathyaraj Venkatesan reviews Maureen Burdock's 2025 comic publication, Sleepless Planet: A Guide to Healing from Insomnia, exploring its role as a graphic narrative in portraying sociocultural dynamics of sleep.
thepolyphony.org/2025/09/29/b...
Book Review: Sleepless Planet
Sathyaraj Venkatesan reviews Maureen Burdock’s 2025 comic publication, Sleepless Planet: A Guide to Healing from Insomnia, exploring its role as a graphic narrative in portraying sociocultural dyna…
thepolyphony.org
September 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
📮Our September newsletter was a ReaderBank special! 📚 We reflected on our time at @edbookfest.bsky.social where we launched a range of new @thereaderbank.bsky.social activities to help you learn more about the reading mind.

👀View the newsletter here: mailchi.mp/ee3bf2b5f065...
IMH newsletter: ReaderBank 2025
A special edition newsletter from the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University.
mailchi.mp
September 24, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Shruti Ghosh explores zine making as a method for “queering” knowledge production in health research.

thepolyphony.org/2025/08/28/t...
This Page Bleeds Too: Zines, Infertility, and the Queer Art of Refusal
Shruti Ghosh explores zine making as a method for “queering” knowledge production in health research.
thepolyphony.org
August 28, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Arya Ray
And scene! Our time at the @edbookfest.bsky.social was exciting and rewarding!

It’s not over yet – our website is still buzzing with activity, and the modules are still live online.

Explore how we imagine, how we feel, how we read, and what that means for our mental health!

readerbank.org
August 17, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Erika Pathó analyses the challenges related to the adoption of a Western-designed dietary measure to manage IBS symptoms in India, focusing on patients’ accounts of their experiences of dietary change.
thepolyphony.org/2025/08/14/m...
Masala and Mangoes: Cultural Challenges in Implementing Dietary Changes in North India
Erika Pathó analyses the challenges related to the adoption of a Western-designed dietary measure to manage IBS symptoms in India, focusing on patients’ accounts of their experiences of dietary cha…
thepolyphony.org
August 14, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Reposted by Arya Ray
🚀 At our public workshop @edbookfest.bsky.social today, we launched our new project ‘Between the Lines’ in collaboration with @canongate.co.uk.
August 14, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
🔥Hot off the press! New pre-print with the v. first findings from our study of reading, the imagination and mental health in collab with @edbookfest.bsky.social

doi.org/10.31234/osf...
OSF
doi.org
August 13, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Don't know much about relief but I do bring comedy.
Meet @aryaray.bsky.social - our incredible research assistant and events counsellor
coordinator. He joined the ReaderBank team last year, and makes sure we hit the ground running at our events. He is also a literary studies researcher.
August 8, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Got some exciting stuff coming up this year, watch this space 👀
Another page turns and the detectives of the imagination are on their way back to the Edinburgh International Book Festival this August to find out more about words we read, characters we meet, and worlds we step into! Read on to find out more.
August 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
if these rodents get phd funding before i do (looks like it) i will lose my mind
July 21, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Surjavo Sen Gupta discusses the use of medical and artistic tools as agents of colonial subjugation by considering the phrenological enquiry of the Toda people of South India.
thepolyphony.org/2025/07/16/e...
(Empire)ical Tools: from Callipers to Cameras
Surjavo Sen Gupta discusses the use of medical and artistic tools as agents of colonial subjugation by considering the phrenological enquiry of the Toda people of South India.
thepolyphony.org
July 16, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Very proud of this one. The project is about a neighbourhood very close to my heart - where I grew up and am lucky to call home. These stories are the closest attempt at capturing the sense of (un)belonging that most residents, including me, have felt all our lives.
Shahana Chakraborty traces a methodological history of the oral history project ‘Neighbourhood Diaries’ and its implications on communal wellbeing and memory. The project specifically looks at CR Park, a post-partition neighbourhood for displaced persons from Bengal.
thepolyphony.org/2025/07/10/n...
Neighbourhood Diaries: Stories of Displacement, Rebuilding, and Communal Wellbeing
Shahana Chakraborty traces a methodological history of the oral history project ‘Neighbourhood Diaries’ and its implications on the communal wellbeing and memory of Chittaranjan Park residents.
thepolyphony.org
July 10, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Surjavo Sen Gupta discusses the cultural depiction of Lajjā Gaurī as a cultural antecedent to the role of male-female compatibility in Fertility Studies.

thepolyphony.org/2025/07/07/t...
The ‘Headless Goddess’ in Indian Iconography and Reproductive Health
Surjavo Sen Gupta discusses the cultural depiction of Lajjā Gaurī as a cultural antecedent to the role of male-female compatibility in Fertility Studies.
thepolyphony.org
July 7, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Artist Priyanka Paul unsettles care work as they illustratively and poetically reckon with the reality of children caretaking for their chronically ill parents.

thepolyphony.org?p=26475
Zine for Children Who Have Had to Become Caretakers
Artist Priyanka Paul unsettles care work as they illustratively and poetically reckon with the reality of children caretaking for their chronically ill parents.
thepolyphony.org
July 4, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Arya Ray
🎬 And it's a wrap! Day 3 of our Critical Neurodiversity Studies conference ends with Daniel Oliver's keynote 'Performance Dork' and closing remarks from our Fellows. Huge thanks to everyone, especially our fab events co-ordinators @aryaray.bsky.social & Haf Serajee.
June 26, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Day 2 of our Critical Neurodiversity Studies Conference! @remiyergeau.bsky.social, @ainokash.bsky.social, the round-table on intersectional privilege, self-(a)criticality & micro-politics in critical neurodiversity studies, and a neuroscribbling in clay workshop were just some of the highlights ...
June 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Arya Ray
Welcome to the Critical Neurodiversity Studies Conference's takeover of the Polyphony site, from today until Tuesday next week. Here co-organiser @louisecreechan.bsky.social kicks us off by asking: 'What is critical neurodiversity studies'?

thepolyphony.org/2025/06/23/c...
Welcome to the Critical Neurodiversity Studies Conference Takeover
What is ‘critical neurodiversity studies’? Louise Creechan introduces the conference aiming to answer this question, and its Polyphony takeover.
thepolyphony.org
June 23, 2025 at 11:13 AM
fun fact: I wrote the short story that 'Again' is adapted from 😌
June 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Excited because my first commissioned article for The Polyphony Meets India went live less than an hour ago - do give it a read! 💜
May 15, 2025 at 11:33 AM