Health, Illness and Disease Conference

[Denis Salter]

Dear Colleagues:

Apart from the call itself, note the last paragraph in particular.

Ciao,

Denis.

> > Making Sense of Health, Illness and Disease
> > 27 to 29 June 2002, Zurich, Switzerland
> >
> > Marking the launch of a new annual conference, research
> > and publication series, this inter-disciplinary and
> > multi-disciplinary project aims to explore the processes
> > by which we attempt to create meaning in health, illness
> > and disease. The project will also examine the models we
> > use to understand our experiences of health and illness
> > (looking particularly at perceptions of the body), and to
> > evaluate the diversity of ways in which we creatively
> > struggle to make sense of such experiences and express
> > ourselves across a range of media.
> >
> > Papers, presentations, reports and workshops are invited
> > on any of the following themes;
> > * the 'significance' of health, illness and disease for
> > individuals and communities; the factors which influence
> > our perceptions of health and illness experiences
> > * the concept of the 'well' person; the preoccupation with
> > health; the attitudes of the 'well' to the 'ill'; perceptions of
> > 'impairment' and disability; the challenges posed when
> > confronted by illness and disease; the notion of being
> > 'cured'; chronic illness; terminal illness; attitudes to
> > death
> > * how we perceive of and conduct ourselves through the
> > experiences of health and illness; the effects on our
> > sense of identity; our relationship with our own body; how
> > others perceive us - family, friends, strangers, doctors,
> > nurses, care givers
> > * 'models' of the body; the body in pain; biological and
> > medical views of illness; the ambiguous relationship with
> > 'alternative' medicine and therapies; the doctor-patient
> > relationship; the 'clinical gaze'; the body as machine and
> > the role of technology; the rise of genetics; manipulation
> > of the body - transplantation, surgery; the body as
> > resource; 'artificial' bodies; the impact of body 'models'
> > on the person
> > * the impact of health, illness and disease on biology,
> > economics, government, medicine, politics, social
> > sciences; the changing relationship between society and
> > medical development; the potential influences of gender,
> > ethnicity, and class; health care, service providers, and
> > public policy
> > * the nature and role of metaphors in expressing the
> > experiences of health, illness and disease - for example,
> > illness as 'another country'; the role of narrative and
> > narrative interpretation in making sense of the 'journey'
> > from health through illness, diagnosis, and  treatment; the
> > importance of story telling; dealing with chronic and
> > terminal illness; the 'myths' surrounding health, illness
> > and disease
> > * the relationship between creative work and illness and
> > disease: the work of artists, musicians, poets, writers.
> > * illness and the literary imagination - studies of writers
> > and literature which take health, disability, illness and
> > disease as a central theme.
> >
> > Perspectives are sought from those engaged in
> > * art and art therapy, creative writing, English literature,
> > history of medicine, media studies, the performing arts
> > (dance, music, theatre), philosophy and ethics,
> > psychology and social psychology, social sciences,
> > sociology and sociobiology, theology and religious
> > studies
> > * anatomy, child care nursing, clinical psychology,
> > counselling, gerontology, health education, health
> > services, hospital administration, immunology, medical
> > and surgical nursing, medicine and the medical sciences,
> > pharmaceutical sciences, public health care
> > * practitioners in health care fields - doctors, GP's,
> > surgeons, health care workers, care givers, hospice
> > workers.
> >
> > Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word
> > abstracts should be submitted by Friday 5th April 2002. 8
> > page conference papers should be submitted by Friday
> > 7th June 2002.
> >
> > The conference is the first in an annual series of research
> > projects, run under the general banner 'Probing the
> > Boundaries'. It aims to create working 'encounter' groups
> > between people of differing perspectives, disciplines,
> > professions, and contexts. The project is to be supported
> > by an e-mail discussion group, resource website, ISSN
> > e-journal, and dedicated ISBN Book series.  Selected
> > papers accepted for and presented at the conference will
> > be published in themed volumes.
> >
> > E-mail enquiries: Dr Rob Fisher (rf at inter-disciplinary.net)
> >
> > Website: http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/hid.htm
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
> > This announcement distributed via
> > http://www.ConferenceAlerts.com
> >