Gender, Subjectivity, and “Everyday Health” in the Post-1945 World – Call for Papers

University of Essex, 16-18 April 2020

What is the history of “everyday health” in the postwar world, and where might we find it? This conference (University of Essex, 16-18 April 2020) invites participants to explore the history of gender, selfhood, and health from multiple perspectives. It has four main aims: to examine how gender, alongside class, ‘race’, and sexuality, mediated experiences of health and wellbeing; to interrogate the reasons for differences in gendered experiences in different regions of the world; to critically assess the concept of ‘everyday health’; and to develop and share methodologies that allow us to write histories of subjectivity and embodiment from the bottom-up.

We particularly welcome papers that consider:

  • What “everyday health” means for different genders and in different contexts;
  • Methodological challenges of studying gender, subjectivity, and “everyday health” in this period;
  • The intersection of gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality and age in individual and collective experiences of health;
  • Approaches to transgender health in historical perspective;
  • Comparative, transnational, and non-western experiences of health;
  • Different disciplinary perspectives on the history of gender, subjectivity, and “everyday health”;
  • The politics and practice of engaging with different publics on these themes.

We also welcome papers on case studies related to particular aspects of health, and from other disciplines that take a historical perspective.

Further information

The conference will be free to attend, including refreshments and lunches, but attendees will be required to make their own breakfast and dinner arrangements. We hope to offer a limited number of bursaries to PGRs and ECRs to contribute towards costs of travel and accommodation, but this is dependent on obtaining further funding. We aim to make this a child-friendly conference, but are unable to provide childcare on site. We will provide a room where carers and children can sit if it is necessary to take a break from panels. Keynote speakers will be announced with the final programme.

Submission of abstracts

  • Abstracts and queries should be submitted to Georgina Randall at admin@bodyselffamily.org
  • The deadline for submission of abstracts is 5pm, Tuesday 10th December 2019. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO ACCOMMODATE THE UCU STRIKE ACTION. We will confirm speakers by Thursday 16th January 2020.
  • We welcome proposals for individual papers and for panels.
  • Abstracts for individual papers of 20 mins should be 500 words or less. Please include on your submission name, institutional affiliation (if any), email address, pronouns, and whether your paper is likely to include content that is unsuitable for children. Please indicate if you are a PGR or an ECR and would like to be considered for a bursary. Please also indicate if you are unable to attend any specific days of the conference.
  • Proposals for panels consisting of 3 x 20 minutes papers should include a 500 word abstract for each paper, plus a panel title and short description (no more than 500 words) explaining the relationship between papers and how they relate to panel themes. Please include on your submission names, institutional affiliation (if any), email addresses, pronouns of all speakers, and whether papers are likely to include content that is unsuitable for children. Please indicate if any panel speakers are PGRs or ECRs and would like to be considered for a bursary. Please also indicate if you are unable to attend any specific days of the conference.
  • We welcome papers in non-traditional formats, and papers that deal with teaching, public engagement, and related issues. If you have an idea for a paper but you are not sure whether it is suitable, please get in touch!

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