If you wish to share your CFPs on the SSHM website please contact the Exec Sec, Dr Justine Pick admin@sshm.org
Symposium: Global Childhood(s) and Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Sebastián Gil-Riaño, Associate Professor, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania
16-18 November 2026: The Centre for History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds (UK)
In-person with online presentation option
Co-organisers: Dr. Elisabeth M. Yang, Dr. Franziska Kohlt, and Dr. Elizabeth Hoiem
This three-day symposium and workshop at the Centre for History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds will bring together an international, muti-disciplinary group of scholars who work at the interface of the histories of science, medicine, and technology, and childhood studies. We welcome participants from across the humanities whose research concerns child health, medicine, technology and the psy-sciences, as well as applied fields including education, public policy, and information sciences.
Reflective of current trends that signify the entangled histories of scientific cultures, knowledge, and technologies and the child, childhoods, and childism, the event will promote this innovative area of research and practice while supporting dialogue between different theoretical approaches and methodologies. There will be an opportunity to present research projects in the form of lighting talks, presentations, or writing workshops. You may also propose a panel or workshop designed to organize participation on a collaborative project or engagement with public policy, museum, and community outreach. Events will be primarily in-person with online presentation options explored depending on submissions. As a legacy of the event, the organizers will establish a global network of scholars in the history of science/medicine/technology and childhood studies, with the purpose of facilitating future events, collaborations, publications, and public outreach.
Please submit your proposal using our conference management platform by 31 July, 2026. You will be asked to provide your contact information, a short biography (150 words), and a 3-page CV with your proposal. You will specify how you want to participate (lightning talk, presentation, workshop, etc.). To suggest a workshop, please explain what kind of writing, whether a book proposal, article, book chapter, dissertation, thesis, or other piece. For a collaborative project or public engagement, please clarify the stage of your project and what you hope to accomplish through the symposium. Proposal lengths (not including citations):
- Lightning talk: 150-word description
- Presentation (single scholar): 250-word description
- Presentation panel (3-4 presenters): 250-word description each, submitted by the panel chair as a single document
- Workshop article, book chapter, book proposal, or dissertation chapter: 500 words
- Collaborative project or public engagement: 500 words
Please contact the organizers with any queries at the following email address: histchildscience2026@gmail.com.
*A limited number of travel bursaries are available to assist participants with travel costs. Priority will be given to PhD candidates and Early Career Researchers who have no access to funds to cover their travel expenses. If you are interested in applying for a bursary, you will have the opportunity to upload a statement (200 words max) explaining your needs.
Pelvic Health Histories Symposium
Thursday, April 29 – Friday, April 30, 2027: Critical Humanities Commons – University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada)
Interested individuals are asked to submit a 250-400 word abstract and a brief biography via
email to pelvichealth@viu.ca by September 15, 2026.
Studies in the area of “women’s health” tend to focus on the reproductive capacity of the female body, often positioning a person’s ability to bear children as the most pressing health issue. This approach contributes to the historically-rooted and ongoing neglect of sex and gender-related health conditions that are not explicitly linked to reproduction. The same is true for historical scholarship – we know a lot about histories of pregnancy, childbirth and abortion, but less about “everyday” pelvic pain and pelvic health, and even less about pelvic health issues experienced by racialized and multiply-marginalized people, non-binary, trans-, and gender-diverse individuals, and by cis men.
The Pelvic Health Histories Symposium aims to fill some of these gaps, exploring how medical and cultural forces have shaped individual and shared experiences of pelvic health (including pelvic pain, various pelvic health conditions, and key sites of pelvic health activism and care) across time and place. We welcome abstract submissions for work focused on diverse aspects of pelvic health history from scholars across disciplines, studying any gender, region, or time period.
Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Histories of chronic pelvic pain and pelvic health conditions (including endometriosis,
dyspareunia, vaginismus, and vulvodynia) that are often neglected, dismissed, and
underrecognized across a range of care settings - Histories of “everyday” and invisible pelvic health issues, such as yeast and urinary tract
infections - Pelvic health care, including routine pelvic examinations, preventative screenings, and
specialized gynecological and urological treatment, as well as gendered, racialized,
geographic, and class-based inequities in the provision of care - Key sites of pelvic health education and activism, including community health centres,
feminist groups, and individual and collective self-help - Reflections on the relationship between pelvic health, physical and emotional health, and
wellness - Cultural and medical pelvic health experiences of racialized and/or multiply-marginalized
people
Confirmed keynote speakers include Thea Cacchioni (Associate Professor, Department of Gender Studies and Sociology, University of Victoria); Deirdre Cooper Owens (Associate Professor, Department of History and Africana Studies, University of Connecticut); Wendy Kline (Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, Purdue University); and Renée Monchalin (Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria and Director, The Fireweed Project).
Abstracts will be reviewed and successful applicants will be asked to submit draft papers of 5000-7000 words by March 15, 2027, ahead of participation in a symposium hosted by the Critical Humanities Commons at the University of Victoria, April 29-30, 2027. Following the symposium, presenters will be invited to submit revised manuscripts for an open access edited collection or special journal issue in Fall 2027.
While we encourage all participants to attend and participate in the symposium and workshopping of papers in person, we are able to facilitate hybrid participation. Travel and accommodation support is available for graduate students and early-career researchers. Questions can be directed to the co-organizing team (please cc all team members):
Karissa Patton, Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Centre for Biomedicine, Self, and Society,The University of Edinburgh, kpatton@ed.ac.uk
Jaipreet Virdi, Associate Professor and Director, Critical Humanities Commons, University of Victoria, jaivirdi@uvic.ca
Whitney Wood, Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health,Vancouver Island University, whitney.wood@viu.ca