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The conversation will centre on Dr Stuart‑Smith’s international bestselling book, The Well Gardened Mind (2020), which explores the relationship between gardening, connection to nature and mental health. Widely praised for its interdisciplinary approach, the book has been translated into eighteen languages and has helped shape global conversations around creativity, wellbeing and care.

Speakers

Dr Sue Stuart-Smith graduated in English literature at Cambridge University before going on to train as a doctor. She worked in the National Health Service for many years, becoming the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire. Following this, she worked as a consultant medical psychotherapist at DocHealth, a not-for-profit service that helps doctors suffering from stress and burnout. 

In 2023, along with her husband, Tom Stuart-Smith, she founded a not-for-profit initiative called The Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health which offers resources to local schools and charities, providing opportunities to connect with nature for those who have least access.

Professor Maggie O’Neill (MRIA, FAcSS, FRSA) is Professor of Sociology & Criminology at UCC. She is Director of the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21) and Director of UCC Futures - Collective Social Futures, and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. Her work is internationally recognised for its focus on social justice, creative methodologies and engaged scholarship.

Responding Panel

Following the conversation, a panel of invited respondents will offer reflections and engage in dialogue:

• Dr Susannah Chapman, a Lecturer in Sociocultural Anthropology at UCC. Her work explores plant-human relations, food systems, and environmental governance since the late nineteenth century. She is particularly interested in how everyday practices of signifying and relating with plant life intersect with projects to regulate plant reproduction in pursuit of agricultural modernization. 
• Sabine Kriebel trained at UC Berkeley and Williams College in the USA. She is an art historian who works at the intersection of art, politics, and subject formation.  She is currently writing a book about post-traumatic aesthetics during the rise of psychoanalysis in Germany, in which succulents play a surprisingly pivotal role. 
• Dr Naomi Masheti is a Psychologist (CBT Therapist) with an interest and focus on Psychosocial Wellbeing of Non-Western Population. She was instrumental in setting up the Cork Migrant Centre (CMC) Psychosocial Wellbeing and Integration Hub at the Nano Nagle Place. One of CMC’s program activities is the International Garden which is a migrant-led, intergenerational initiative. It promotes wellbeing, integration, and economic empowerment for families living in Direct Provision by addressing social isolation and mental health challenges linked to migration.

Audience contributions and questions will be warmly welcomed after responses from the panel.

Admission is free. Registration is essential as places are limited.  Please email marycolettesheehan@ucc.ie by 30 April to reserve your place.