Conferences
Calls for Papers
Music and the Body
The University of Hong Kong: 9–11 March 2012
What is the relationship between music and the body? Almost everything concerning music is quintessentially related to the body, yet the answers to this question are multifaceted. The relationship is multimodal involving the auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual, and is observed at diverse levels of experience across sensation, perception, creation/production, interpretation, and communication. The notion of "body" itself is multivalent, and thus the connection can be subject to various interpretations from different perspectives, such as anatomical, medical, cognitive, aesthetic, cultural, social, and historical. Reckoning the clashes between these perspectives, this conference proposes to investigate the multidimensional relationship between music and the body in a setting that promotes a genuine intellectual exchange of ideas. We invite papers in all fields related to the theme. For further details click here.
Submissions should comprise a paper title, an abstract of up to 250 words, and a short biography of about 200 words. Please email submissions in PDF or Word format to Dr. Youn Kim at by 1 November 2011.
Seventh annual History of Women’s Health Conference
Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, April 18, 2012
The History of Women’s Health Conference focuses on women’s health issues from the late 18th century to the present. This conference encourages interdisciplinary work. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, obstetric and gynecology issues (fertility, infertility, birth control methods, menopause), adolescence (health, cultural influences, body image, puberty, eating disorders), mental health topics, geriatric concerns, overall women’s health, access to health care, minority health, nursing, midwifery, female healers, and more. For more information visit the website at http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc. Please e-mail your proposals to Stacey C Peeples, Curator-Lead Archivist, Pennsylvania Hospital by 4 November.
‘Surveillance and/in Everyday Life: Monitoring Pasts, Presents & Futures’
Sydney Law School, The University of Sydney on February 20th & 21st, 2012
This is an International Conference featuring Professor David Lyon, Queen’s University, Canada, Professor Pat O’Malley, The University of Sydney, and Professor Kevin Haggerty, University of Alberta, Canada, and other special guests from media, industry, security, policy and the arts. More information can be found here.
Titles and abstracts need be submitted for consideration by 7 November.
Colonial Subjects of Health and Difference: Races, Populations, Diversities Workshop
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science / Free University, Berlin: 11-13 June, 2012
Human diversity in the European colonies represented a fascinating topic of research for scientists and posed challenging administrative issues for colonial bureaucrats. For officials, managing the challenges of colonial administration was often dependent on acquiring data on their subject populations, while, conversely, the scientific pursuit of that data was firmly embedded in colonial rule. For those whose lives became colonial subjects during this time, colonial rule meant, at the very least, being exposed to new kinds of illnesses, expertise and exploitation. It also often meant being counted and categorized in the name of welfare and reform.
The core concern of this workshop is to identify connections between the study of ‘races’, ‘populations’ or ‘human variation’ and the colonial practices associated with health and governance of diverse human groups in the early 20th century. This workshop topic lies at the intersection of the history of science and the history and anthropology of colonial projects. This is a project of the Historicizing Knowledge about Human Biological Diversity independent research group. The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science will cover travel costs to Berlin and four nights accommodation. If you have content related questions please contact . Interested scholars should send a 300 word abstract and short CV, with Colonial Workshop in the subject header, to by 15 November, 2011.
Probing the Interior 1800-2012
The Courtauld Institute of Art and King's College London, Friday 25 May 2012
Bodily, psychic and spatial interiors can be mapped, traversed and violated in multiple ways. This one-day conference will interrogate and re-evaluate the contested terrain of the interior in its varied forms. The conference will be built around three themes: Threshold, Incision and Autopsy. We encourage prospective speakers to outline how their papers engage with one or more of these themes. Send proposals of no more than 250 words to probingtheinterior@gmail.com by 30 November 2011.
Generations: Imagining the Future to Promote Health and Justice - International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 2012 Congress,
Rotterdam, 25-27 June, 2012.
The conference organizers welcome submissions from a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, the social sciences, critical cultural studies, law, public health, and others. We particularly encourage submissions from early career researchers. Submissions should be e-mailed to by 1 December 2011.
International Conference on Pain, Suffering and Health
The University of Hong Kong, 27 April 2012
The Centre for the Humanities and Medicine at The University of Hong Kong invites the submission of abstracts from across the disciplines. The conference is being organized by the Centre’s Philosophy, Therapy, Medicine research theme and seeks to develop comparative perspectives on the nature of pain and its significance in relation to suffering and health. A key focus of the meeting is on the extent to which experiences and understanding of pain, suffering and health differ across cultural and historical settings. A further aim of the conference is to consider the implication and applicability of theoretically-oriented approaches for health care professionals in clinical situations.
All enquiries and abstracts should be directed to , leader of the Philosophy, Therapy, Medicine research theme at the Centre for the Humanities and Medicine (HKU). To submit, please send via email with the title: Pain Abstract. Submission 300 word abstracts by Friday 2 December 2011.
Cripples, Idiots, Lepers, and Freaks: Extraordinary Bodies, Extraordinary Minds
The Graduate Centre of the City University of New York, 22-23 March, 2012
Could disability be, as Susan Wendell writes, “valued for itself, or for the different knowledge, perspective, and experience of life” it gives rise to? This conference seeks to continue and to expand conversations about cultural meanings and possibilities of impairment, as well as the ways that he disabled body becomes a locus for uneasy collaborations and tensions between the social and the scientific. Emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach to “disability”, we seek papers from across the humanities (for instance, English, Art History, Music), social sciences (for instance, History, Sociology, Political Science), and applied fields (Law, Education, Medicine). For further information, click here. Please submit 250 to 500 word abstracts to by 5 December.
PCA/ACA Fat Studies 2012
Marriott Boston Copley Place, Massachusetts, United States, 11-14 April 2012
Proposals in the area of Fat Studies are being accepted for the 2012 PCA /ACA National Conference in Boston. We welcome papers and performances from academics, researchers, intellectuals, activists, artists, and others, in any field of study, and at any stage in their career. We also welcome panels and roundtables on a variety of topics under the heading of “Fat Studies.” Please visit the website for more information. Please send an abstract of 100 - 250 words or a completed paper to Fat Studies Area Co-Chairs Julia McCrossin and Lesleigh Owen by 15 December.
Science, Medicine, and the Making of Race
Mississippi, United States, 8-10 March 2012.
This symposium seeks papers from the fields of history of science, history of medicine, and general history exploring the topic of how race and gender get written into (or out of) science, whether in the context of colonialism, slavery, healthcare policies, or museum collections. Please submit a 250-word proposal and a c.v. to conference organizers at: Theresa Levitt (tlevitt@olemiss.edu) or Deirdre Cooper Owens (dbowen@olemiss.edu) before 16 December 2011.
Bodies of Knowledge, Knowledge of Bodies, Southern Humanities Council Conference
The Seelbach Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky, 2-5 February, 2012.
The 2012 Southern Humanities Council Conference invites proposals for papers/presentations/panels on the theme "Bodies of Knowledge, Knowledge of Bodies." Visit their website. Send proposals to Mark Ledbetter at Proposals are due by January 1, 2012.
Critical Care: Advancing An Ethic Of Care In Theory And Practice : hosted by the Care, Health and Well-being research group
School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton. 13-14th September 2012
This conference is designed to stimulate and develop a growing body of scholarship and practice wisdom challenging the dominance of neo-liberal thinking that has relegated care values to a marginal position. It reflects enduring evidence of the importance of care in people’s everyday lives and in policy making. This conference is designed to bring together those whose starting points may be very different, but who share an interest in developing work that can promote critical thinking about care.
For information click here. Please submit an abstract of 300-500 words by email to by 7 January 2012.
International Conference on Psychology and the Art
Ghent, Belgium, July 4-8, 2012
Conference sponsors are the PsyArt Foundation and the University of Ghent. Papers may be in English, French, or German and deal with any application of psychology to the study of literature, film, painting, sculpture, music, or the other arts. We especially welcome papers using a feminist or gender studies approach. Abstracts must be less than 150 words. Any excess will be cut. The deadline for sending us your title and abstract and registration fee is April 15 or the time at which we receive 65 abstracts. More details online. The deadline is 15 April.
Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society for the History of Neuroscience
Sydney University in 2013.
The society is a group of researchers, drawn from all the disciplines of neuroscience, who promote the academic study of the history of neuroscience. The society has members who are neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychologists and psychiatrists, pure neuroscientists, as well as librarians of historical collections, and academics from various humanities. We are looking for those with an interest in this field who would like to participate in the local organizing committee; or those who would like to find out more about the society and the meeting with a view to presenting their original work. The Society also has a focus on the promotion of younger members and encouraging their participation and presentations. A day presentation on Australian historical content is planned and encouraged. If you would like to know more please contact cestorey@bigpond.com. If you would like to know more about the Society, its past and future meetings, check out the website at http://www.ishn.org
Upcoming conferences and meetings
- Empathy: Self, Society, Culture
Indiana University, Bloomington
Nov 11-12, 2011.
This symposium aims to explore theories and practices of empathy. For more information about the Virtuous Empathy project, see here. - 8th Global Conference Making Sense of: Dying and Death
12 - 14 Nov, Prague, Czech Republic.
This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference explores dying and death and the ways culture impacts care for the dying, the overall experience of dying, and ways the dead are remembered. Specifically, submissions should be framed with at least one of the following four rubrics in mind: death/dying within culture, culture within death/dying, death/dying as popular culture (and vice versa), or death/dying in tension with culture. For more details please visit their website. - The Art of Good Health and Wellbeing
The 3rd International Arts and Health Conference of Arts and Health Australia
14-18 Nov 2011, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
The conference aims for an innovative and creative focus on visual arts programs that have been designed to support health and wellbeing, and to showcase best practice arts and health programs incorporating music, theatre, dance, comedy, circus arts, creative and narrative writing, film and digital media. For more details go to here. - Educating the Nation: the Humanities in the New Australian Curriculum
Law School, University of Melbourne, 17 November 2011.
The humanities disciplines are foundational to the new Australian Curriculum. This Symposium will explore the future of humanities education in Australia, and the challenges and opportunities presented by the new curriculum for humanities research and teaching at all levels. More information and registration here. - History of Education Society annual conference
Glasgow University Union Scotland, United Kingdom, 25 to 27 November 2011.
A burgeoning historiography of physical education in many cultures and contexts, and broadly defined, has brought new breadth to the history of education. At the same time, historians of education have remained interested in health and the body, and significant work has been carried out at the intersection of the histories of medicine, education and sport. - Making (In)Appropriate Bodies – Between Medical Models of Health, Moral Economies and Everyday Practices - Vienna, Albert Schweitzer-Haus (organised by the Department of Social Studies of Science, University of Vienna)
December 1-2, 2011
This conference seeks to combine in-depth empirical analyses with broader theoretical reflections. By bringing together research that addresses different cultural contexts and different efforts of normalising bodies (such as the obesity debate), and that applies different methodological approaches to studying these, the conference’s explicit goal is to open up comparative perspectives and to contribute to a broader understanding of contemporary efforts to govern bodies. More information at here. - First-Person Writing, Four-Way Reading: A Three-Day Interdisciplinary Research Conference on Literature, History, Medical Humanities & Ethnography
1-3 December 2011, University of London, United Kingdom.
This Research Conference is part of the 2011 programme of Strategic Activities of the Standing Committee for the Humanities of the European Science Foundation. Please go to http://www.esf.org/index.php?id=8674 for more information. - Narrative Research Symposium: Personal Stories, Public Statements, Political Consequences
Victoria University Campus, 9.30 – 5.00, 9 December 2011.
The six presenters in this 1-day symposium come from diverse theoretical and disciplinary traditions, including anthropology, historical biography and social science. They share a commitment to unpick and attend to the often overlooked complexity and anguish within these borderlands between the public, private and political. The key presentation is by Prof. Molly Andrews from the Centre for Narrative Research at UEL, UK, whose work involves extraordinary personal accounts but whose commitment overall is to explore political change.
In addition, Molly will be facilitating a master class in Analysing Narrative Materials, which will be preceded by two one-day preparatory workshops in narrative analysis in which participants will have the opportunity to work with their own data. These will be facilitated by Dr. Ruth Ballardie and Professor Elaine Martin. These Narrative Analysis workshops will run on the last two Saturdays of November, with the master class on 8th Dec. It will be limited to 10 participants, so book early if you are interested. Contact for more details. - MLA 2012 CFP: Medicine, Health, and Literary Studies
5-8 Jan, 2012
Literary studies and topics such as disease, epidemics, bioethics, biopower,disability, health, environmental health, healing, madness or pain. - Innovations in Medical Education Conference 2012.
7th annual Innovations in Medical Education (IME) Conference.
Hilton Hotel, Pasadena, California, February 25 - 26, 2012.
The IME conference joins together a community of educators interested in promoting change through innovation in health professions education and invites you to participate by presenting your innovative work in health professions education on; Completed Innovations with Outcome Data; "Cool" Research Ideas Seeking Collaboration; Innovative Curricula and Educational Resources; and Skill-building Workshops. Go here for information. - NeMLA (Northeast Modern Language Association)
Rochester, New York (Hyatt Regency Rochester), March 15 - 18, 2012.
The 43rd convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association will be held in Rochester, New York March 15 - 18, 2012. Our host institution this year is St. John Fisher College, and the convention will be held at the Hyatt Regency Rochester. - 2nd Global Conference on Trauma: Theory and Practice
21-24 March 2012, Prague, Czech Republic.
This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to examine and explore issues surrounding individual and collective trauma, both in terms of practice, theory and lived reality. - 2012 Biennial EAAS Conference, The Health of the Nation - Izmir, Turkey.
26-29 March 2012
Over the past two years, President Obama’s proposed health care reforms initiated an often bitter and sometimes divisive debate which, while focused on health provision, also asked fundamental questions (and exposed tenaciously held positions) about the state of the nation, its history and ideology. Our conference theme, the Health of the Nation, addresses these issues, where health can be both literal and metaphorical, personal and public, human and environmental. For more information see the EEAS website. - Whole Person Care National Symposium - Being Present in the Face of Uncertainty
Doltone House, Sydney
Late March, 2012
The provision of Whole Person Care is both challenging and rewarding for patient and practitioner. Three international speakers and a host of national speakers will accompany us in exploring the complexities and challenges in responding to the distress of people who face life threatening illness. This Symposium is for all doctors, nursing and allied health professionals who work with patients with life threatening or terminal illness. Website and further details to be announced on their website. - Science and the Occult: from Antiquity to Early Modern Age
Department of History at Purdue University, April 27-28, 2012.
The fascinating recurrence of alchemical symbols in European, American and Islamic thought, as well as specific non-rational methods employed by many scientists to promote rational discoveries, from Antiquity to Early Modern. Topics to be addressed could include; History of Magic, Alchemy, Witchcraft, Medicine, Herbalism, Kabala, Esoterism, Hermetism and Hermeticism, Divination, Tarot, Astrology, Tradition and Lore, Ciphers and Alphabets. Website here. - Gender, Bodies & Technology: (Dis)Integrating Frames
Roanoke, Virginia, April 26-28, 2012
(Sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Virginia Tech.) We invite proposals from scholars in the humanities, social and natural sciences, visual and performing arts, engineering and technology for papers, panels, new media art and performance pieces that explore the intersections of gender, bodies and technology in contexts ranging from classrooms to workplaces to the internet. The Gender, Bodies & Technology website and the full program from the 2010 conference can be viewed at: here. - 19th Atlantic Canada Studies Conference - Contested Regional Identities, University of New Brunswick in Saint John.
May 4-6, 2012.
Focussing on the theme of the past, present and future of regionalism, with an emphasis on Atlantic Canada, submissions welcome on the construction of cultural, provincial and regional identities, the contested nature of identities and the relation of region to nation. The conference is meant to be inclusive, and the organizing committee will also consider proposals on topics that do not match the general theme. Details here.