PASSAGES FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE AGES V

PASSAGES FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE AGES V

INFIRMITAS
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL APPROACHES TO CURE, CARING AND HEALTH

August 23 – 26, 2012

Call for Papers

University of Tampere, Finland
Department of History and Philosophy
Trivium Centre for Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Studies

The fifth international conference on Passages from Antiquity to the
Middle Ages will focus on social and cultural approaches to health
and illness, cure and caring, and notions of ability and disability.
These topics are of major importance for communities and societies
both in Antiquity and during the Middle Ages, yet research is still
fragmentary and more synthetic and interdisciplinary approaches are
rare.

We welcome papers which focus on different actors – institutions,
communities, families or individuals – and have a sensitive approach
to social differences: gender, age and status. Thus, the focus lies
on society and the history of everyday life, on the differences and
similarities between elite and popular culture, and on the
expectations linked to gender and life-cycle stage, visible in the
practices and policies under scrutiny. How were physical and mental
disability/ability defined within daily life; what were the social
consequences of illness; how was social interaction reflected in
caring for the sick; how were cure and caring organised in families,
communities and in society? We aim not to concentrate on medical or
technical aspects of health and illness, but rather to integrate them
in a larger social and cultural context.

The conference aims at broad coverage not only chronologically but
also geographically and disciplinary (all branches of Classical and
Medieval Studies). Most preferable are contributions having
themselves a comparative and/or interdisciplinary perspective.

If interested, please submit an abstract of 300 words (setting out
thesis and conclusions) for a twenty-minute paper together with your
contact details (with academic affiliation, address and e-mail) by
e-mail attachment to the conference secretary, passages@uta.fi. The
deadline for abstracts is September 15th 2011, and the notification
of paper acceptance will be made in November 2011. Conference papers
may be presented in major scientific languages, however supplied with
English summary or translation if the language of presentation is not
English. The registration fee is 100 € (post-graduate students: 50 €).
For further information, please visit
http://www.uta.fi/trivium/passages/ or contact the organizers by
e-mailing to passages@uta.fi. The registration opens in November 2011.

Organizing Committee:
Prof. Christian Krötzl, Prof. Katariina Mustakallio, Dr. Sari
Katajala-Peltomaa and Dr. Ville Vuolanto