VELiM 10th anniversary seminar

6 August 2007
On Friday, 17 August 2007, the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine (VELiM) is conducting a day-long seminar, "Living, Imagining and Controlling Bodies". This seminar celebrates the 10th anniversary of the founding of VELiM by Emeritus Professor Miles Little, and also the incorporation of the Medical Humanities Unit at the Centre.

The seminar features internationally recognised academics from a range of disciplines including feminism, philosophy, law, psychology and disability studies. VELiM will welcome Professor Jane Ussher (Director, Gender, Culture and Health Research Unit, University of Western Sydney); Associate Professor Catherine Waldby (Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney); Associate Professor Rosalyn Diprose (Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales); Professor Grant Gillett (Professor of Medical Ethics, Dunedin Hospital and Otago Bioethics Centre, Dunedin); Professor Carl Elliott (Professor of Paediatrics and Philosophy at the Centre for Bioethics, University of Minnesota); and Professor Paul Komesaroff (Director, Monash Centre for the Study of Ethics in Medicine and Society).

VELiM’s Director, Associate Professor Ian Kerridge, explains, "Bodies are not simply biological entities but are one part of our human identity, and may be sites of change and transformation".

"The topic of the seminar was chosen in response to the increasing recognition that a range of influences including cultural and political forces, technology, science and commerce determine the ways in which we live, the relationships we have with others, and the ways in which we experience health and illness".

Presenters will address questions including:

How do science and technology, including medical technologies, influence the ways in which we live, imagine and control bodies?

How does the experience of health, illness and treatment shape our understanding of our bodies and identities?

What is the relationship between bodies and time?

How are bodies "brought to market"?

The seminar will be held in the Medical Foundation Building Auditorium (K25) from 9am until 4.30pm.

Registrations are still open: for more information about the program and registrations, please contact Lindy Gaze at VELiM, on 9036 3405, or at .