Academia meetings & conferences

Altered Consciousness in Relation to Popular Culture

16-17 November 2013 Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom

This meeting will explore the theme of altered consciousness in relation to popular culture, psychology, philosophy, religion, medicine and literature during the period 1918-1980.

Many literary and popular authors and performers during the mid twentieth century represented altered states of consciousness in their work, responding to and participating in research relating to such topics as interplanetary contact, ESP, clairvoyance, telepathy, mind-altering drugs, psychic therapies, spiritualisms, shamanism, erotics, conversion, revivals, somnambulism, precognition, distraction, group mind, multiple personality, hypnotism, lucid dreaming, Vedanta, hysteria and automatism.

What was the continuing legacy of nineteenth-century approaches to mind and spirit? How did work at the fringes of psychiatry and psychology intersect with mind sciences that consolidated their authority during the mid-twentieth century? What are the key interactions between European, North American and non-Western sources? How did investigations cross the borders between arts, sciences, religion, education and the military?

This event is generously supported by: the British Society for the History of Science, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Centre for the History of the Emotions, and the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London.
 

Meanings of Madness: Critical and Creative Perspectives

Catherine Mcauley School Of Nursing And Midwifery and School Of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Ireland in association with Critical Voices Network Ireland

13 And 14 November 2013, University College Cork, Ireland

Madness is a word that continues to invite controversy, with some perceiving it to be a derogatory term, others perceiving it as a celebration of human creativity and diversity, whilst others position themselves somewhere in the middle. This year’s conference, now in its 5th year, aims to explore these various positions by focusing on critical perspectives on the meaning of madness as a human experience and on creative responses to such an experience.

The conference offers opportunities to consider:

• Meanings of madness

• Broadening understandings of expressions of madness

• creative approaches to engaging with and responding to madness

The Conference organisers are Harry Gijbels, Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, and Lydia Sapouna, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Ireland.

From Moral Treatment to Psychological Therapies: Histories of Psychotherapeutics from the York Retreat to the Present Day

Centre for the History of Psychological Disciplines, University College London, United Kingdom

11-13th October 2013

Whilst the history of psychiatry has become a well developed field of scholarship, there remain few examinations of psychotherapeutic treatments beyond histories of psychoanalytic approaches. This conference will bring together recent historical research on therapeutic treatments for mental distress and disorder, from the 18th century up to the present. It seeks to explore how such therapies were developed, their institutional and intellectual contexts, and the debates and controversies which may surround their use. ‘Psychotherapeutics’ is defined in its broadest terms, and is intended to include approaches that have been accepted by the medical or state establishments, as well as those practiced outside official institutional settings.

13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference

5-8 MAY, 2014 Salvador, Brazil

The International Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Conference is coming to Latin America for the first time in 2014 and will be held in Salvador, Brazil, between 5 - 8 May. Previous conferences have been located in every other continent around the world.  PCST 2014’s main theme is “Science communication for social inclusion and political engagement”.

34th Anthropology and Health Conference

Anthropology and Personalised Medicine: Impacting the Future of Comprehensive Healthcare

8th-12th September 2013, Inter University Centre, Don Frana Bulića 4, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia

Objectives:

1. To delineate anthropological perspectives on biological constructs of diversity such as “race” and their historical and current impact on the development and practice of personalized medicine.

2. To delineate anthropological sociocultural constructs of diversity such as racism and ethnocentrism, bioethics, health equity and disparities and their historical and current impact on the development and practice of personalized medicine.

3. To examine anthropological contributions to the molecular genetic, population genetic and epigenetic foundations of personalized medicine using Croatian populations as an exemplar.

4. Through the dual lenses of medicine and anthropology discuss new developments and projected epidemiological impact of personalized medicine on metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cancers, forensic sciences, and other diseases and conditions.

5.To develop a comprehensive approach to the dissemination, tracking and assessment of the impact of the conference using the Becker Model.

Yale Food Systems Symposium

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut October 18-19, 2013

The parallel forces of urbanization and globalization are transforming our planet. They are bringing unprecedented changes to food production and distribution, livelihoods, communities, and the environment. While the pace of this transformation presents significant challenges to the creation of just and sustainable food systems, it may also create powerful opportunities: to support ecological stewardship, promote economic sustainability, cultivate human health, and ensure social justice. Currently, divergent food system paradigms compete for validity. How can these diverse perspectives be negotiated? How can we synchronize the efforts of research, policy, and practice?

The Yale Food Systems Symposium will bring emerging and established scholars and practitioners to work together in action-oriented sessions that address the complex ecological and socio-economic processes of food production, consumption, climate change and rapid urbanization. A variety of session formats will encourage transdisciplinary dialogue and an active exchange of ideas.

Questions may be directed to yalefoodsymposium@gmail.com.

Learning Disabilities Association of America 2014 Annual Conference

February 19-22, 2014 Anaheim, California

Join us for the 2014 LDA Annual Conference!

LDA’s mission is to create opportunities for success for all individuals affected by learning disabilities and to reduce the incidence of learning disabilities in future generations. LDA believes everyone can succeed at school, at work, in relationships, and in the community—given the right opportunities and supports as needed. Please bring your family, friends and co-workers to the 2014 LDA Conference in Anaheim, CA, for a time of learning and discovering how we can advocate and work together to create new opportunities for children and adults with learning disabilities.

Classifying Sex: Debating DSM-5

Thursday, 4 July 2013 to Friday, 5 July 2013 Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

This conference brings together social and political scientists, feminist scholars, sexologists, psychiatrists, historians of science, as well as mental health practitioners and sexual rights activists to critically explore the sexual classifications produced by the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published in May 2013. The DSM is the standard reference for the classification of mental disorders, and its first major revision since 1994 is consequently an important global event. The conference will explore which categories of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, ‘healthy’ and ‘pathological’ sexualities and identities the new manual produces, and critically scrutinise their consequences for diagnostic practices as well as their wider social and political implications. The conference will take place on 4 and 5 July 2013 at the interdisciplinary Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) of the University of Cambridge. It is financially supported by CRASSH, the Wellcome Trust, the Sexual Divisions Study Group of the British Sociological Association, the French Institute, Northumbria University, the Laboratoire de Sociologie of the University of Lausanne, and The Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES).

Implications of the Affordable Care Act for Low Income Individuals and Families

November 1-2, 2013 Davis, California

The full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) over the coming years will bring many changes in the level of and process for access to health care among poor and working class Americans.  In November 2013, the Center for Poverty Research at the University of California, Davis will host an interdisciplinary conference focusing on research that provides insight and background into likely effects of the ACA on low income individuals and their families.

Risk, Perception, and Response Conference

March 20-21, 2014 Harvard School of Public Health Boston, Massachusetts