Medical Humanities: Health & Disease in Culture
CALL FOR PAPERS: Medical Humanities: Health and Disease in Culture Area
POPULAR CULTURE AND AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATIONS
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Marriott Boston Copley Place
Boston, Massachusetts
April 11-14, 2012
The "Medical Humanities: Health and Disease in Culture" area for the 2012 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association meeting in Boston, Massachusetts examines topics related to the portrayal of health and disease in cultural discourse. Proposals representing humanities and the arts (e.g., literature, history, film, visual arts) or social sciences (e.g., anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, print or electronic journalism) perspectives in historical or contemporary contexts are welcome.
Individual or full panel proposals are considered. Subject areas might include but are not limited to:
- stories of illness from patient and health practitioner perspectives in novels, short stories, memoirs, graphic novels/ memoirs, etc., discussed in larger sociocultural (ethnicity, race, gender, class), and political (health care system) contexts
- historical and contemporary narratives of chronic illness (e.g., coronary heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, eating disorders) in films; TV comedy, drama, reality programming; advertising; marketing; news media; web and social media
- historical and contemporary representations of stigmas of illness in popular culture genres and in health professional education and practice literature
- representations of the body in popular culture genres
- disability narratives in literature, history, popular culture
- representations of health institutions or health practitioners in historical and contemporary perspectives
- health care reform discourse (e.g., public debate over national health insurance in electoral politics, disability rights “patient-centered” health care, medical homes, health care access, health disparities, electronic medical records)
- pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical industry (e.g., drug/prescription/OTC use, misuse, popular perceptions, promotion and marketing; pharmaceuticals and meanings of illness and wellness; drug development or regulation; clinical trials)
- historical and contemporary perspectives on public health “threats” e.g., obesity, smoking, addictions, antibiotic resistance, radiation
- historical and contemporary representations of promotion of health through such strategies as diet, exercise, personal or domestic hygiene, positive psychology
- historical and contemporary narratives of epidemics, pandemics, emerging and re-emerging diseases (e.g., cholera, polio, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs, flu) in television, film, etc.
- global public health infrastructure issues (e.g., access to water and safety; hunger, food safety, vaccine access, control of environmental factors that contribute to illness; civil unrest)
- representations of the globalization of disease (e.g., medical and dental tourism, national/international governmental public health organizations or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), global disease surveillance information sources, public health “preparedness” efforts; “natural” or “man-made” disaster consequences)
Teaching panels on medical humanities topics are also welcome.
DEADLINE for proposal submissions: DECEMBER 15, 2011.
Proposals of 200-250 words may be submitted on-line at the PCAACA website http://www.pcaaca.org/conference/instructions.php
or to the Medical Humanities: Health and Disease in Culture Area Chair via email:
Jennifer Tebbe-Grossman
Professor of Political Science and American Studies
School of Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences-Boston
179 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Email: jennifer.tebbe@mcphs.edu
Phone: 617-732-2904