About HoPSIG

• Raise awareness of the value of understanding the history of psychiatry.
• Encourage research into the history of psychiatry, including the history of the RCPsych.
• Be a forum for psychiatrists wishing to research HoP, to find others with shared interests and to discuss research ideas and work in progress.
• Facilitate networking with academic historians.
• Welcome non-College members who are interested in HoP, including people with medical and non-medical backgrounds.
• Keep people informed via a webpage and newsletter.
• Organise workshops and conferences about the history of psychiatry, including about historical methodology and resources.
• Organise history sessions at annual International Congress, and with Faculties and Divisions.
• Liaise with, and support, the RCPsych archives department, e.g. producing exhibitions, introducing online systems to facilitate archive access.

• Peter Carpenter – Chair
• Graham Ash – Immediate Past Chair
• Caroline Hayes – Honorary Secretary, Competition Co-ordinator
• Tom Stephenson – Financial Officer
• Mandy Bryant – Archivist
• Fiona Watson – Library and Archives Manager
• Nicol Ferrier – Newsletter Editor in Chief
• Joe Baskerville-Butler – Newsletter Editor
• John Hall – Newsletter Editor
• Mutahira Qureshi – Newsletter Editor
• Gursharan Johal - Newsletter Editor
• Claire Hilton – Honorary Archivist
• Grace O'Regan – Competition Co-ordinator
• Gordon Bates – Historian in Residence, Social Media Editor
• Mohammed Ibrahim
• Rachel Jenkins
• John Mason
• Alastair Robson
• Marius Turda
• Wendy Wang
• Jane Whittaker
• Ute Oswald
  

Please see under Newsletters if you would like to write for our newsletter.

We are also on twitter @rcpsychHoPSIG

Send your research queries and ideas to Claire Hilton if you would like to see them posted on our site.

HoPSIG Spring 2027 Essay Prize

"Tangled Histories: Colonial Influences In The History Of British Psychiatry"

• Deadline: 31 January 2027
• Eligibility: Submissions invited from all trainees and career grades who do not possess CCST or equivalent (including those on OOPS)
  Essays from medical and non-medical students are also welcome.
• Prize: £100  to the winner and presentation slot at the join Philosophy and HoPSIG online meeting in April 2027. The winning submission will also be published in the newsletter, with runners up also invited to submit their work.

Format
All essay styles allowed, from academic to reflective, 1500 - 2000 words (excluding references) or equivalent. Alternative formats will be considered (discuss with Chair)

Submissions
Please send entries and any questions to ChairHOPSIG@gmail.com. All submissions should include names and titles of authors, current post, statement on relative contributions for multiple authors and contact details for each.