Dr Luna Dolezal

I am Professor of Philosophy and Medical Humanities based in the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health.

I am based in both Philosophy and History, where I contribute to medical humanities.

My research is primarily in the areas of applied phenomenology, philosophy of embodiment, philosophy of medicine and medical humanities. My work is driven by an interest in understanding lived experience and embodiment, and how these intersect with, are co-determined by, the socio-political and technological frameworks in which we are enmeshed.

My current research is primarily focused on three inter-related themes: (1) shame and self-conscious emotions; (2) embodiment and self-other relations; and (3) emerging medical and body-based technologies.

At present, I am the PI on the Shame and Medicine project (Wellcome Trust Collaborative Award, 2020-2025) and a co-I on the Imagining Technologies for Disability Futures project (Wellcome Trust Collaborative Award, 2020-2024). I was also PI on the UKRI-AHRC Covid Rapid Response project Scenes of Shame and Stigma in COVID-19 (2020-2022).

I have recently co-authored a book with Fred Cooper and Arthur Rose, COVID-19 and Shame: Political Emotions and Public Health in the UK (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). This book led to the Shame and the Pandemic podcast series, produced by Volume.

I have recently collaborated with The Nocturnists and Dr Will Bynum (Duke University) to co-create an award-winning 10-part audio documentary series Shame in Medicine: The Lost Forest.

I am a co-founder with Will Bynum of The Shame Space, a global consortium to advance awareness of shame in heathcare, and The Shame Lab, a collaboration between the Univeristy of Exeter and Duke Univeristy that advances training, research and engagement around 'shame competence'. Through The Shame Lab, I have developed and deliver trianing in shame competence to professionals (including police, healthcare workers, community workers and others).

My publications can be accessed through Academia.edu.

Before joining Exeter, I was based between the Department of Philosophy at Durham University and the Trinity Long Room Hub at Trinity College Dublin on an Irish Research Council/Marie Curie fellowship. I received my PhD in Philosophy from University College Dublin. My other academic qualifications include: an MA in Continental Philosophy (University College Dublin) a Graduate Diploma in Literary Theory (Universidade de Lisboa) and a BSc in Physics and Philosophy (University of New South Wales).

Research supervision:

I am open to discussing research proposals for postgraduate study on a variety of subjects related to my research expertise.