Medical Humanities meetings & conferences

Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival

November 9-17, 2012 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Rendezvous with Madness (RWM) is the world’s first and longest running film festival showcasing films that address issues of mental health and/or addiction. The festival provides a unique opportunity for filmmakers to screen their work and has grown into a filmmaker favourite over the past eighteen years.

The objectives of the Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival are:

− To explore the facts and mythologies of mental illness and/or addiction, as presented by Canadian and international filmmakers.
− To facilitate discussions amongst filmmakers and audiences with respect to these cinematic representations.
− To provide filmmakers an opportunity to screen their films that may otherwise not be seen.
− To increase awareness, and advocacy for mental health and addiction issues and concerns.

RWM brings independent Canadian and International film and video to the public. RWM features strong programs that address the facts and mythologies of mental illness and addiction.

Each of the various programs focuses on different themes and includes panel discussions involving the filmmakers, artists and people with professional and personal experience with mental illness and addiction.

First International Congress--Narrative Medicine and Rare Diseases

The First International Congress "Narrative medicine and rare diseases" will be held on 4 June 2012, at the Italian National Institute of Health (Aula Pocchiari, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, Italy). The Congress aims (i) to promote narrative medicine applied to rare diseases among health practitioners and patients, (ii) to stimulate new theoretical approaches and practical applications, at international level.

The Italian National Centre for Rare Diseases of the Italian National Institute of Health has organised the Italian national
congress "Narrative medicine and rare diseases" annually since 2009.

Rare diseases, defined by their low prevalence, can be acute, severe, chronic and disabling conditions. They may be difficult
to diagnose and with few specific therapeutic treatments.

Narrative medicine aims to build a bridge between the clinical knowledge of health care practitioners and the patient’s subjective experience.

This year, the Italian National Centre for Rare Diseases of the Italian National Institute of Health is organising the First International Congress "Narrative medicine and rare diseases".

The official language will be English (simultaneous translation service English/Italian will be available).
Travel and accommodation expenses will be born by the participants.

For additional information, clarifications, or questions, please contact the Scientific Secretariat, at medicina.narrativa@iss.it.  

Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Via Giano della Bella, 34
00161 - Roma (I)
Phone: 06 4990 4017
Fax: 06 4990 4370
taruscio@iss.it

Somatics & Technology Conference 2012

23 June 2012, University of Chichester, Chichester, United Kingdom

Somatics, referring to a set of body-based contemporary practices has achieved widespread recognition as a form of bodily knowledge. It coincides with a resurgence of philosophical and scientific interest in the role that the somatic plays in human thought and experience, and its reach encompasses contemporary arts that challenge the primacy of digital logic through the promotion of a more body-based and sensual approach to technology (Shusterman 2008; Damasio 1994).

This event to be held at the University of Chichester will integrate critical, theoretical and practical perspectives on the conference’s theme through keynote presentations by international specialists from the visual arts, dance and new media, with roundtable papers led by the speakers, conference papers and an exciting series of workshops, art exhibits and performances.

Retelling Familiar Tales of Pregnancy and Birth in European Cultures

Tues 3rd-Weds 4th July 2012, Oxford, United Kingdom

Purpose of conference

This conference aims to bring together leading specialists from a range of the medical humanities with healthcare professionals to explore the trope of the retelling of stories about pregnancy and birth. While recent work has considered the way in which stories of exceptional pregnancies and unusual births have been told again and again over western history, from Greek mythology and the Old Testament until the present day, the methodological and intellectual questions raised by these retellings have not been discussed in detail. Taking a very broad geographic and chronological focus (Europe from antiquity to the present day), our objective is to encourage innovative interdisciplinary exchanges by addressing the following questions.

How did the growth of print culture in Europe encourage the retelling of familiar birthing tales, and how were new ones added?
Why did some stories of pregnancy and birth circulate more widely than others?
When stories are retold, which details of the original are always retained, which are lost in the retelling, and how and why do new accretions creep into the story?

Sessions

The gathering particularly looks to provide the opportunity for discussion and exchange on both substance and methodology between, on the one hand, a wide range of academic disciplines contributing to the medical humanities (e.g. cultural history, art history, history of the book, literary scholars) and, on the other hand, health care practitioners who have been increasingly focused on the oral transmission of case histories (midwives, obstetricians and gynaecologists, psychiatrists). The four sessions proposed are thus wide-ranging and deliberately aim to juxtapose contributions from academics and practitioners in the various sessions.

1) The trope of repetition, or why some tales of pregnancy and birth are retold

2) Exploring accretion and loss: how tales are retold across time (antiquity to the present) and across different geographic and cultural European contexts

3) Who sees or experiences, who tells and who reads repeated tales: patients, practitioners, witnesses and readers:

4) The significance of the material circulation of repeated tales in word and image

Keynote plenary session: Professor Monica Green (Arizona State University)

Practical details

The conference sessions, including lunches and dinners, will be held in Lady Margaret Hall, a college of the University of Oxford, located in attractive grounds in the north of the city. We are looking to provide bed and breakfast accommodation in another Oxford college for the nights of 2-3-4 July 2012 for delegates who wish to take advantage of this. Alternatively, Oxford has a range of good guesthouses and hotels for those wishing to organise their own accommodation. We hope to have some bursary support available for students.

Shared Traumas, Silent Loss, Public and Private Mourning

Summer Symposium, Brandbjerg, Denmark, July 27th – August 3rd 2012

8th International Symposium for the History of Anaesthesia

International Symposium on the History of Anaesthesia 2013, Sydney

The 8th International Symposium for the History of Anaesthesia will be held from January 22-25, 2013 in Sydney, Australia.

The Australian Society of Anaesthetists, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists are pleased to announce that they are hosting the 8th International Symposium on the History of Anaesthesia (ISHA) in Sydney, Australia in January 2013.

The theme of the meeting: HISTORY MATTERS!

ISHA 2013 is administered by the Australian Society of Anaesthetists.

Historical themes will include the relationship of the profession with industry, military anaesthesia, equipment, pioneers and notable names, regional anaesthesia, pain management, simulation, society and education, organisations, antiquity, subspecialty anaesthesia, veterinary anaesthesia, anaesthesia and the arts, anaesthesia mortality and others.

Contact

Please contact the ASA for more information.

email: isha2013@asa.org.au
tel +61 2 9327 4022

WCN 2013 XXI World Congress of Neurology

September 21-26, 2013 Vienna, Austria

Join leading neurologists at WCN 2013, the world’s biggest neurology event. The XXI World Congress of Neurology will feature a rich scientific programme, including the latest developments in clinical practice and research, distinguished plenary speakers, teaching courses, workshops, and lectures, all on the increasingly global aspect of our work.

List of Proposed Topics

Epilepsy (Joint WFN & ILAE)
Movement Disorders
Stroke (Joint WSO & WFN)
Neuro-critical care
Dementia
MS & Demyelinating Diseases
Neuromuscular disorders
Headache
Pain
Neurorehabilitation
Neurooncology
CNS infection
Vertigo and balance disorders
Sleep
Leukoencephalopathies & Child neurology
Autoimmune encephalitis
Neurology, Health economics & outcomes
Metabolic and mitochondrial diseases
Neuroepidemiology
Environment, Climate Change
Autonomic nervous system
Neuroophthalmology
Brain & Behavior
Motor neuron disease
Channelopathies
Palliative care
Nutritional disorders & Neurotoxins
Stem cells in Neurology, hopes, uses and abuses
Neurological surgery for the neurologist
Psychiatry for the neurologist
Neuroethics
Interventional Neuroradiology
Advances in Neuroimaging
Advances in Neurophysiology
Therapeutic Neurotoxins
Biomarkers
World History of Neurology
You Tube neurology
Movies and neurology
Sports neurology
Training in neurology around the world
WHO Neurology Initiatives (Noncommunicable disease Initiative, MhGAP Program, ICD-11 revision of neurology codes)
Cases from around the world
Making the Case for Neurology

Contact Us
Please email us at wcn@kenes.com for more information or any queries.
 

Shakespeare and Emotions

27–30 November 2012
The University of Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

The 11th Biennial International Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Shakespeare Association in collaboration with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions

The study of emotions in history, literature, and other aspects of culture is a burgeoning field, and Shakespeare takes a very central and influential place. As the theme of the 11th Biennial International Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Shakespeare Association, presented in collaboration with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, Shakespeare and Emotions will feature papers that explore aspects of the ways in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries represented emotions in poetry, drama, and other works, and how these representations have been received by audiences and readers from the sixteenth century to the present day.

The ANZSA conference committee for 2012 consists of:

Winthrop Professor Bob White (Local Chair), University of Western Australia
Professor Chris Wortham, University of Notre Dame
Dr Brett D. Hirsch, University of Western Australia
Dr Mark Houlahan, University of Waikato
Assistant Professor Danijela Kambaskovic-Sawers, University of Western Australia

The committee may be contacted individually, or as a group via email sent to conference@anzsa.org.

Our Future is Aging: Current Research on Knowledge, Practice and Policy Research Conference

November 21st-23rd, 2012 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

"Our Future is Aging: Current Research on Knowledge, Practice and Policy" research conference will be held on November 21-23, 2012, Delta Halifax Hotel, Halifax, Nova Scotia. This Conference will bring together researchers, academics, service providers, decision makers, artists, students, policy analysts and members of the community to share the diversity of perspectives and approaches to aging research within the Atlantic region and throughout Canada.

The Conference is being hosted by the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging, Mount Saint Vincent University as part of its 20th anniversary activities. Our Centre, in collaboration with a planning group of reseachers and representatives from practice and policy from throughout the region, are working to offer a valuable conference experience for you.

Atlantic Canada has the oldest populations in the country, and there is significant scholarly research on aging underway in the region that is not well known. This conference provides a unique opportunity for emerging and established researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in the region who are interested and engaged in age-related research to come together to learn about, and be inspired by, one another’s work. It offers an occasion to learn about existing collaborations in aging research, and foster new ones.

About the Organization

The NSCA is a research centre affiliated with the Department of Family Studies & Gerontology at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that was established in 1992. Through research, education and community engagement, the NSCA advances knowledge on aging to inform social policy and practice and enhance the quality of life of older people and their families. For more information on the NSCA visit www.msvu.ca/nsca.

2012 marks our 20th anniversary, and we are planning a special celebration. Our anniversary theme is Our Future is Aging. We chose this theme because it captures where we as a society are headed (our population is aging) and it reaffirms the work and mission of the NSCA to generate knowledge that informs policy and practice on aging related issues. Our Future is Aging: Current Research on Knowledge, Practice and Policy, is one event in the 20th Anniversary program of activities. This research conference supports two of the Centre’s strategic directions by fostering research collaborations and engaging in knowledge translation activities.

Travel Bursaries
If funding permits a limited number of travel bursaries may be available to students traveling to the conference. These bursaries will be distributed on a first-come-first serve basis, and will require the completion and submission of a student travel bursary form. Students are encouraged to identify their intent to apply for a travel bursary on the Online Submission form.

For additional information please consult the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging website: www.msvu.ca/nsca.

Halifax Nova Scotia B3M 2J6 Canada
Tel 902-457-6546 • Fax 902-457-6508

Email: nsca@msvu.ca
www.msvu.ca/nsca

Celebrating 20 Years of Advancing Aging Research and Enhancing Seniors' Lives

3rd International Medical Convention on Performing Arts Medicine

2012, December 7th, 8th and 9th Rome, Italy

Language: English

The main topics of interest for this workshop include, but are not limited to, the following ones:

• Gerontology in Performing Arts Medicine
• Pathologies in the artists: from prevention to treatment and to rehabilitation
• Medical Humanities and Performing Arts Medicine
• Fine arts and Performing Arts Medicine
• Construction and collection of cross-language resources
• Guidelines and evaluation
• Methods to adapt existing resources to new domains and styles

Info: congress08@ceimars.it