Cured: Considering Endarkened Co-Composition as a Methodology for Gynaecological Inquiry

The history and practice of gynaecology remains haunted by a legacy of racialised violence, epistemic exclusion, and neglect. From the experimental surgeries of Dr. J. Marion Sims on enslaved women in the nineteenth century to the persistent dismissal of pain, consent, and credibility experienced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic birthing individuals today, the harm is ongoing and systemic. These injustices are not historical anomalies; they are active structures shaping contemporary healthcare, rooted in centuries of dehumanisation and silencing. Despite an accumulation of biomedical data and policy reforms, dominant clinical and academic paradigms remain inadequate in addressing the sensory, emotional, cultural, and historical dimensions of gynaecological racism. Moreover, recent policy shifts across the UK, US, and Europe are rendering alternative narratives increasingly invisible. Cured: Considering Endarkened Co-Composition as a Methodology for Gynaecological Inquiry responds to this context by proposing a transformative approach through Endarkened Co-Composition (EC), a methodology I have developed at the intersection of sound studies, Black feminist theory, and collaborative public research. Rooted in sonic practices as both method and metaphor, EC treats sound not only as material—voice, instrumentation, ambient noise—but as epistemological: a mode of knowing, remembering, and resisting. Drawing on Black and Indigenous traditions of storytelling and story-keeping, it integrates interviews, focus groups, and creative practices to generate socially engaged artworks and humanities-based interventions, such as short films, compositions, and installations. The method has proven powerful in the humanities and social sciences, and I propose that it can also significantly contribute to medical, ecological, and technological fields. This application marks a critical foundational phase in a longer-term research trajectory. At this stage, I will take five key actions: First, I will clearly define the research questions that will underpin a broader investigation into gynaecological racism and qualitative inquiry via collaborative, creative research. Second, I will articulate the aims and objectives that frame EC as a mode of socio-sonic research. Third, I will specify a multi-site, multi-temporal research context for deploying this methodology. Fourth, I will define how EC will function as a method to answer emerging research questions. Fifth, I will begin addressing the central question: What can EC contribute to cross-disciplinary qualitative socio-clinical or medical humanities research? To support these aims, I will build a cross-sector, interdisciplinary, and international team, including medical anthropologists, composition scholars, and maternity health stakeholders, to co-produce a larger research initiative. I will conduct independent research visits and host a two-day networking and research retreat to co-develop guiding questions. A conceptual framework paper will be produced to inform a future Catalyst Award and, eventually, an AHRC Standard Research Grant. I will also compose a sound-based proof of concept—Anarcha’s Aria—a 3–4-minute piece for voice, small ensemble, and archival sound, collaboratively written by myself, Davis, and Mouton, demonstrating the method’s power as a socio-sonic clinical intervention. Through these activities, Cured will lay the groundwork for future collaborative research producing both creative and scholarly outputs: a co-composed chamber opera, published libretto, peer-reviewed articles, and a methodology paper. Rooted in medical anthropology and informed by the enduring legacy of Anarcha and Sims, the project aims to examine structural racism in obstetric systems and explore how sound can guide interdisciplinary, community-informed interventions. In a moment of growing inequity, Cured offers a deeply collaborative, artistically driven response to urgent social and healthcare challenges.