CFP: History of the Philosophy of Pregnancy

Conference Venue:

Department of Philosophy, University of Dayton, Dayton, United States

Topic areas

• History of Western Philosophy

Details

CFA: History of the Philosophy of Pregnancy

We invite authors to submit abstracts of approximately 500 words for a conference entitled “History of the Philosophy of Pregnancy,” hosted by the Philosophy Department of the University of Dayton, as part of its Richard R. Baker colloquia series (Dayton, OH, USA). The conference will be  held on October 6-7th, 2023. Please see below for details. 

Keynote Speaker 

Sara Brill (Fairfield University) 

Our conference is motivated by the dearth of historical scholarship on the philosophy of pregnancy. Historical scholarship on reproduction tends to focus on the conception and development of the embryo  -- 'generation' and 'embryology' -- treating the developing organism as an independent entity. As a consequence, pregnancy is written out of the causal story. The goal of this conference is to recover a history of the philosophy of pregnancy and bring the work and challenges of the pregnant individual into focus.

We encourage submissions pertaining to all historical periods and are interested in approaches to the topic from different philosophical schools and cultural perspectives.

Examples of potential topics include the following:

• How was pregnancy conceptualized across cultures and time?
• How did commitments to autochthony shape conceptions of pregnancy and public policy?
• What were the political ramifications associated with conceptions of pregnancy, miscarriage, fertility, and infertility?
• How did slavery and colonial practices impact conceptions of pregnancy and birth?
• How did historical discussions of individuality and individuation take pregnancy into account in the context of discussions of generation?
• How did the practices of midwifery or obstetrics inform philosophical discussions of reproduction?
• How has pregnancy been understood in the history of biology?
• How was the role of the placenta in reproduction understood?
• How was pregnancy understood across species? What significance did this have for understandings of human and non-human animals?
• What impacts were maternal agency or mental life thought to have on  pregnancy?
• How did pregnancy relate to ensoulment and the formation of persons?
• How was the female reproductive body conceived relative to the male reproductive body? Were female bodies treated as inferior versions of male bodies or unique for their reproductive capacities?
• What is the historical relation of sex or gender to pregnancy? What is the relation of physiological to cultural understandings of pregnancy, or vice versa?
• How has the discourse on pregnancy and fertility intersected with the discourse on ableism and disability?
• Why is there little, if any, explicitly philosophical writing on pregnancy in the history of philosophy?
• What kinds of methods may be employed for the recovery of a history of the philosophy of pregnancy?
• What does the history of the philosophy of pregnancy suggest for contemporary philosophy of pregnancy?

Please submit abstracts of ~500 words to histphilpregnancy AT gmail.com by May 15, 2023. Please include your name, institutional affiliation (if any), and paper title in your email. Papers should be suitable for a 30 minute talk, with Q&A to follow. Acceptance decisions will be announced by July 1, 2023. Submissions from members of underrepresented groups in philosophy are especially encouraged. Subsidized accommodations are available on a limited basis. 

Please contact histphilpregnancy AT gmail.com with any questions.

Organized by Dr. Myrna Gabbe (University of Dayton), Maja Sidzińska (PhD candidate, University of Pennsylvania), and Evangelian Collings (PhD candidate, University of Pittsburgh)

Sponsored by Philosophy Department, University of Dayton

My source: (once again)
Philos-L "The Liverpool List" https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/
Twitter @PhilosL. Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhi

n.b. I'm not sure about the motivation for recent posts, but the children have lost two grandmothers in the past two months.

C+nto

"The female body is a political space."

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My - MIND C+nto	My - Body
& Othered Poems Art / Arts :: [Counter] Culture Othered Minds :: Othered Bodies	C+anto

Joelle Taylor. C+nto & Othered Poems. Saqi Books. April 2021 Paperback 128pp 9781908906489

New Voices Conference Women and their Body

Dear all,

Please find here the invitation for attending the Conference Women and their body in March 2023:

The conference Women and their Body aims at breaking the silence!

 Together, the Humanities and the Cultural Studies take a stand on the explosive topic Women’s right over their Own Body. Recent and even past events in numerous countries ask for a statement, formulated by many scholars from different research fields.

Recent events have shown that it is urgent and fundamentally important to shed new light, through philosophical, linguistic, literary, scientific, medical and artistic perspectives, on the female body and the position of women in relation to their body. Too often it seems that women do not have the right to determine their own body, although men have never been deprived of this right. The question of power over the body is strongly linked to the distinction between men and women. It seems that men have more rights and power on their own body than women. But how is this possible? What is the status of the female body in culture and society? Why is the female body both, an object of desire and a battlefield for demonstrating male power? To what extent have medicine and technology interfered in recent years with the female body and with what consequences?

On March 15^th, 16^th and 17^th 2023, the international, hybrid conference, organised by Dr. Jil Muller, at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists in Paderborn, directed by Prof. Ruth E. Hagengruber, will shed light on this issue. Everyone is welcome to attend the conference, via Zoom or in person in Paderborn. Please note that the in-person places are limited.

Please use the registration tool to register for the conference:
https://indico.uni-paderborn.de/event/21/

The preliminary program can be found here:
https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/new-voices-conference-women-and-their-body/

For further information or any question, please feel free to send an email to
contact AT historyofwomenphilosophers.org

Dr. Jil Muller
Assistant Professor, Post-doc Researcher
Philosophy Department, Paderborn University:
https://kw.uni-paderborn.de/en/fach-philosophie/personal/personen/91668
Deputy Head and Researcher at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists:
https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/about/team/
Chair: Prof. Dr. Ruth Hagengruber

Universität Paderborn
Raum TP 21.2.31
Technologie Park 21
33100 Paderborn
Germany

My source:
Philos-L "The Liverpool List" https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/
Twitter @PhilosL. Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhi

Paper - "The concept of legal space: A topological approach to addressing multiple legalities"

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"5 An early reference to topology in psychology has been developed by Kurt Lewin, Principles of Topological Psychology (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1936). Linking literature and topology, Angus Fletcher, The Topological Imagination: Spheres, Edges, and Islands (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2016). For an overview of philosophical approaches related to topology, see Daniel Parrochia, Mathematics and Philosophy (Wiley, Chichester, 2018) Ch 11. Using a topological approach to law, Müller-Mall (n 4). This last contribution constructs a topological approach for assessing perspectives in law (such as reflected in judicial decisions on a certain legal question) and situating them within ‘reference frames’ (in particular 117 et seq)." p.520.

"Law is fragmented ‘along issue-specific rather than territorial lines’, as exemplified by regulatory regimes for environmental and health issues or the private regulation of the cyberspace and of transnational commercial activities.20 Some authors have described this as a ‘deterritorialization’ of law.21 One reason for such a deterritorialization is the increasing amount of regulatory objects that cannot, or can only with difficulty, be linked to any territory – particularly salient in the case of digitalized data and its fluid location." p.522.

"... the notion of legal space suggested here comprises various features that are guided by concepts from topology, a branch of mathematics that analyses the qualitative nature of spaces. This approach has been adopted in an interdisciplinary manner, including in various disciplines of social science."5(See above). pp.519-520.

Global Constitutionalism

Burchardt, D. (2022). The concept of legal space: A topological approach to addressing multiple legalities. Global Constitutionalism, 11(3), 518-547. doi:10.1017/S2045381722000041

Editorial: "The Meaning of Concept Analysis" i

Nursing Science Quarterly (NSQ)

 

 

This editorial, "The Meaning of Concept Analysis" is open access and concerns an academic activity that is 'bread and butter' in nursing theory. It is well worth reading, for students too.

"The purpose of this editorial is to clarify the meanings of the term concept and analysis and to offer some guidelines that show what is appropriate for publication of concept analyses."

 

The editorial is helpful in encouraging the effort here, even as it suggests I would be wasting my time, the editor's and referees (although quarterly has a certain appeal).

 

 

The journal's role and purpose is clearly described:

"Nursing Science Quarterly is unique in that it is the only journal devoted exclusively to the enhancement of nursing knowledge. Only Nursing Science Quarterly publishes original manuscripts focusing on nursing theory development, nursing theory-based practice and quantitative and qualitative research related to existing nursing frameworks, contributed by the leading theorists, researchers and nurse executives. including nurse theory development."

I've enjoyed the freedom here, on the periphery of academia. Afraid at the same time that this 'h2cm' obsession has, will ... impact my objectivity, subjectivity - by way of attitudes, openness and view within and without of nursing, in theory, practice and management. Added to being able to carry the weight that is nursing (responsibility). The load is made-up of history, the legacies, the global academic balance (or not), the current global state of the profession, the fight for professional recognition and more. All rolled-up, and rolled-out when the challenges of the 21st century warrant it. Yes, the future is always - out there.

Concepts are key in Hodges' model, as a conceptual framework, as a series of conceptual spaces, as domains for threshold concepts and much more. I think I'm struggling now, as I always have in giving 'a' concept my critical attention, and its being in uniform. Concepts are always 'seen' as a gestalt. This may explain why I'm not an academic and definitely not a professional philosopher. The editorial notes:

"Examples of some analyses of concrete concepts that would not contribute to discipline-specific nursing knowledge and therefore are not worthy of publication include nursing overtime, nursing shortage, cultural competencies, medical diagnoses, precision health, big data, sensor technology, health economics, omics, and symptom science, among others."

I have mapped these concepts to Hodges' model below (underlined), and added in italics some associated concepts:

 

 

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psychiatric diagnosis data ethics [person-al] symptom science [here] person-centered care / health emotional/spiritual intelligence	medical diagnoses, precision health, big data sensor technology, omics, and symptom science procedure x,y,z - cost $$$
cultural competencies social prescribing health literacy public understanding of sciences	nursing overtime nursing shortage nursing crisis? data ethics [COP15] outcomes - patient safety information governance health economics

As an exercise you may like to consider the following, as relates to the care - knowledge domains of Hodges' model?

"For the discipline of nursing (which includes the extant theories and frameworks) appropriate analyses of abstract concepts that contribute to the advancement of discipline-specific knowledge include self-care, wellness, well-being, self-esteem, courage, trust, burden, comfort, resilience, betrayal, shame, and authentic presence, among others."

Along with the concern about my preoccupation with Hodges' model, every time I type reflection, reflective practice - it hurts. It feels like another form of navel gazing, and yet the need for reflection, and reflective practitioners, producing critical thinkers and reflective practitioners is recognised world-wide.

I can't help but get a sense that concept analysis is nurse's navel gazing. If I sound critical, it would be a greater problem if this was the view of others outside nursing? Maybe, this point itself, validates the production of discipline-specific knowledge for nursing? I can't escape though, the feeling that there is something limiting, narrowing, even apolitical here: (Is there a global nursing crisis)? There has been much needed conceptual work on race, justice, gender, equality [google 'concept analysis, ...']. I realise my expansive approach can - and does - fall dead from the press. If I can blame the Atlantic, then I hope that pluralism still has a role to play?

 

Parse concludes:

"Nurse researchers and emerging scholars should answer four questions before launching a concept analysis that could be worthy of publications.

1. Is the concept an abstract expression to illuminate the essences that can contribute to nursing knowledge development?

2. Is the conception critical to the advancement of discipline-specific knowledge?

3. Which extant concept analysis model is appropriate for this concept?

4. Will this concept analysis be worthy of publication in light of its level of abstraction and possible contribution to nursing science?"

In the 21st Century concept analysis will have its place, being key in philosophy, linguistics, ethics, law, artificial intelligence ... and yes, nursing too. But increasingly I think the true power of concepts (in theory, practice, management, policy) is found when they are related and conjoined.* 

More to follow ... then silence ... for a time ...

Parse RR. The Meaning of Concept Analysis. Nursing Science Quarterly. 2023;36(1):5-5. doi:10.1177/08943184221131957

*To state the obvious.

Book: Stories from Care Experienced Adults to Inspire Change

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"In this poignant book, Lisa Cherry brings together a collection of candid and personal reflections on the care system in the UK, offering alternative ways of thinking about the care experience, supporting better ways of working, and providing justification for a trauma-informed lens to be applied to all forms of work with those in care. Through personal insights and reflections, the book brings often-unheard stories vividly to life, beginning with the author’s own. These are stories about love and pain; hurt and isolation; the depth of lived experience that makes up a life; how we live our lives through our relationships with others and where we feel we fit in. In this thoughtfully compiled third edition, original contributors look back on their own reflections from the lives that they live now, new stories bring new perspectives, and discussion points provide the opportunity to consider the realities of the care experience as well as life beyond."

The Brightness of Stars: Stories from Care Experienced Adults to Inspire Change

Stories from Care Experienced Adults to Inspire Change

"Whilst each story is unique, shared themes reveal the truth of the care system and, coming at a time where there is a real opportunity for change, the narratives in this book are ultimately stories of hope and connection. This is crucial reading for policy makers, those working in social work, education and adoption, as well as care experienced adults." [Text c/o Routledge]

Lisa Cherry (2022) The Brightness of Stars: Stories from Care Experienced Adults to Inspire Change
London: Routledge. ISBN 9781032191584 

https://www.routledge.com/The-Brightness-of-Stars-Stories-from-Care-Experienced-Adults-to-Inspire/Cherry/p/book/9781032191584#

My source:

https://twitter.com/CareExp_Culture/status/1606208952437420032?s=20&t=nacOiLCrUFCCuNQiEY4dKw

What precedes/follows mis- dis- malinformation, fake news...?

"Sartori (1970: 1034) put it well when he wrote almost fifty years ago: ‘We badly need information which is sufficiently precise to be meaningfully comparable. Hence we need a filing system provided by discriminating, i.e., taxonomic, conceptual containers. If these are not provided, data misgathering is inevitable; and statistical, computerized sophistication is no remedy for misinformation.’ Turnheim et al. (2015) agree when they write that a structured dialogue among practitioners of different approaches is needed to better understand processes and pathways of sociotechnical change. Similar calls for more inclusive, comparative, cross-disciplinary research have come recently from many researchers (e.g. Castree, 2016; Sovacool et al., 2015; Stern et al., 2016; Viseu, 2015; Webster, 2016)." p.704.

"Borrowing from a mix of disciplines, including history, evolutionary economics, institutional theory and STS, the approach suggests that diffusion or transitions occurs through interactions among three levels: the niche, the regime, and the landscape. The niche refers to a radical innovation that is emerging to gain diffusion or adoption, to move from invention and innovation to viable market introduction (Grin et al., 2010). The regime refers to the incumbent sociotechnical system that the niche is potentially affecting or replacing; such regimes contain cognitive, regulative, and normative institutions (Geels, 2004). The ‘landscape’ refers to exogenous developments or shocks (e.g. economic crises, demographic changes, wars, ideological change, major environmental disruption like climate change) that create pressures on the regime, which in turn create windows of opportunity for the diffusion of niche-innovations."

Sovacool, B. K., & Hess, D. J. (2017). Ordering theories: Typologies and conceptual frameworks for sociotechnical change. Social Studies of Science, 47(5), 703–750. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312717709363

"Users online tend to acquire information adhering to their worldviews, to ignore dissenting information and to form polarized groups around shared narratives. Furthermore, when polarization is high, misinformation might easily proliferate."

Cinelli, M., Quattrociocchi, W., Galeazzi, A. et al. The COVID-19 social media infodemic. Sci Rep 10, 16598 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73510-5
[Reference numbers removed in quotation.]

 See also:

'landscape'

'socio-technical'

'habitus'

Global Learning for Health Equity Network: Call for Proposals

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you have been well! I’m reaching out to share that the University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Nursing’s Global Learning for Health Equity Network recently opened a call for proposals that might be of interest to you and your network.

With support from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we are awarding planning grants to help US communities find inspiration from low and middle income countries around the world for advancing equity in health, housing, education, and more.

Whether your organization already has a country it wants to learn from in mind or it’s just curious to explore global ideas that may advance health equity, this opportunity will provide grantees at any stage of their global learning journey with mentorship, resources and funding.

Potential applicants are invited to submit applications  the deadline is February 8, 2023. 

Would you be open to helping us amplify our call? We would love it if you could forward the link to our CFP to your network.

Let me know if you have any questions.  Want to learn more about global learning……See our webpage for more information. https://www.umaryland.edu/gl4hen/

Thanks so much.

Best regards and greetings of the season,

Yolanda Ogbolu

ogbolu AT umaryland.edu

Global Learning for Health Equity Network

University of Maryland, Baltimore
655 W. Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

My source: GANM

Herbert Spencer: The Sociology domain

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"In man we see the highest manifestation of this tendency. By virtue of his complexity of structure, he is furthest removed from the inorganic world in which there is least individuality. Again, his intelligence and adaptability commonly enable him to maintain life to old age - to complete the cycle of his existence; that is, to fill out the limits of his individuality to the full. Again, he is self-conscious; that is, he recognizes his own individuality." p.238.

"Spencer's key concept was 'evolution', by which he meant the process of increasing differentiation (that is to say specialization of functions) and integration (by which he meant mutual interdependence of the structurally differentiated parts and co-ordination of their functions.)" p.8. "Here we see longitudinal and transverse integration going on simultaneously; ..." p.66.

"Having invented the word sociology, Comte is often treated as the founder of the study itself, although his contribution to empirical knowledge is meagre, and cannot be even remotely equated with that of Montesquieu or John Millar. His excellence lies in methodology in which field he laid the foundations for the systematic (or scientific, if you like) study of society." p.15.

"There is no sudden leap from the house-hold type to the factory-type, but a gradual transition. The first step is shown us in the rules of trade-guilds under which, to the members of the family, might be added an apprentice (possibly at first a relation), who, as Brentano says, 'became a member of the family of his master, who instructed him in his trade, and who, like a father, had to watch over his morals, as well as his work'; practically, an adopted son. ... With  development of this modified household-group, the master grew into a seller of goods made, not by his own family only, but by others; and, as his business enlarged, necessarily ceased to be a worker, and became wholly a distributor - a channel through which went out the products, not as a few sons, but of many unrelated artisans." pp.135-136.

Herbert Spencer, Stanislav Andreski, (1971) Herbert Spencer : structure, function, and evolution. London: Nelson.

As you can tell - I'm still sorting through books!

See also (recently):
Medical sociology ... "food for thought" c/o POHG

Additional citation: IRMS Bulletin - November 2022

 Last May I presented Hodges' model at the IRMS Conference in Glasgow.

When I walked in to set up I had the room to myself. I was able to attend on the final day, that of my talk - travelling and staying at my own expense.

The concurrent - streamed format for the conference means you are competing for hearts, minds and existing conceptual frameworks, how well they are populated, what are the 'gaps' and delegate's curiosity and desire for lifelong learning. Next year's event is in Manchester, I'd encourage you to submit, attend if you can.

Five minutes before the start of my session, I counted 8-10 people. The Chair had arrived and suggested we wait a bit longer. 4-5 minutes later I was really pleased - all the seats were occupied and people still arrived by the door. Altogether there were over 30 people.

I'm probably better 1-1 - perhaps that's the 'nurse inside', but the session went well, as the Chair acknowledged and some questions afterwards.

At the end, I was also approached by Jonathan Fryer, in response to a slide showing how Hodges' model can conceptually encompass the various forms of literacy and schools and informatics (posted previously on W2tQ).

Jon immediately saw the relevance of the model, as at The British Library (Head of Corporate Information Management Corporate Information Management Unit) he was currently thinking about literacy.

IRMS Bulletin is a member-based publication, so not open access. I'm grateful that Hodges' model has some exposure and that Mr Fryer found it helpful:

"Information Literacies - Learning, to thrive in a digital age"

IRMS bulletin 230

"I am indebted to Peter Jones, who shared Hodges’ Health Career Model¹ with the 2022 IRMS conference in Glasgow. Although originally used in a healthcare setting, this simple, two-axis intellectual model can be readily used to analyse any complex interaction between the individual and their environment – in this case, information literacies.

The diagram² shows a number of distinct yet overlapping literacies that were potentially in play in our problem example, although there are likely to be many more – even emotional literacy played a part, with the frustrations of the young people in question causing them to dismiss potential solutions before they had been tried or even considered. Likewise, socio-political and socio-economic literacies may have been a factor – if you are unaware that something exists in the world due to blind-spots in your own cultural background then you cannot even begin to look for it."

Jon Fryer, "Information Literacies - Learning, to thrive in a digital age". IRMS Bulletin, Issue 230, November 2022.

[ I will add a detailed citation when obtained and add to the blog's bibliography. Apparently some details referring to Hodges' model were omitted from the published article, I understand IRMS editors are addressing this is a future issue. ]

See also:
https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search?q=blind-spot

I am planning a submission to the bulletin myself in 2023.

Are the lines open? Is the train running? "Wigan Coal and Iron"

"Nos. 7 and 8 pits were a short distance away from the main colliery and were known as Brookside or New Zealand Pits. No coal was raised at these pits when Wigan Coal Corporation took over, but they were used for pumping and ventilation. Shortly afterwards (in 1931) they were filled up.

Wigan Coal and Iron

 

A very tragic and bizarre accident happened here on 13th April 1945 when Ludovic Berry, a locomotive driver employed by the Coal Corporation, was moving 13 loaded wagons in sidings over the filled up No. 7 shaft which was 12ft. diameter and 400 yd. deep. Suddenly the ground collapsed under the leading wagon which fell into a large cavity followed by the rest of the train and the locomotive at an accelerating pace. The locomotive with all wheels locked by the brakes and the driver still at the controls was dragged into the shaft by the wagons and came to rest wedged in a vertical position with the smokebox uppermost 127 ft. down the shaft. The total length of the train was 283 ft. and there were indications on the rails that the brakes had been applied when the train was 226 ft. from the crater. This crater was 52 ft. long and 34 ft. wide. The body of the driver was never recovered, owing to the dangerous condition of the ground surrounding the cavity." p.181.

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Ludovic	| | | ------------------------------------------------------- | | |
(Mr) Berry RIP

D. Anderson, A.A. France (1994) Wigan Coal and Iron. Paperback. Smiths of Wigan.
ISBN 0 9510680 7 5.

Cover image file - Amazon. Cover painting David W. Barrow.

See also:
http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/Collection/ian/2004/page_30.htm

https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/past1.php

Thanks to Mr Harold Parkinson RIP for the book.

CLOSE(D) CARE: Group climate in a secure forensic setting for individuals with mild intellectual disability

This morning ResearchGate alerted me to a new paper/thesis citing Hodges' model. 

I will add this to the bibliography and post again in the new year, relating selected conceptual content of Elien's thesis to Hodges' model.

Background

CLOSE(D) CARE

This study examines associations between group climate, aggressive incidents and coercive measures in adults with mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning (MID‐BIF) of a secure forensic setting.

Method Participants (N = 248) were interviewed about their perception of group climate utilizing the Group Climate Instrument. Data on aggressive incidents and coercive measures were retrieved from the facilities’ electronic database. A multilevel structural equation model was fitted in which variability in perception of group climate within and between living groups was examined.

Results An open and therapeutic group climate was associated with lower levels of aggression within and between groups. A higher number of aggressive incidents were significantly associated with a higher number of coercive measures.

Conclusions The findings have implications for the understanding of how group climate may play a role in reducing aggressive incidents at the living group in treatment of individuals with MID‐BIF in secure forensic settings.

Elien G Neimeijer (2021) "CLOSE(D) CARE: Group climate in a secure forensic setting for individuals with mild intellectual disability." Radboud University, ISBN: 978-94-6416-713-9
https://www.trajectum.nl/sites/default/files/proefschrift_e._neimeijer_pdf.pdf

Domain walls ...

"A domain wall is a type of topological soliton that occurs whenever a discrete symmetry is spontaneously broken. Domain walls are also sometimes called kinks in analogy with closely related kink solution of the sine-Gordon model or models with polynomial potentials.^[1][2][3] Unstable domain walls can also appear if spontaneously broken discrete symmetry is approximate and there is a false vacuum.

A domain (hyper volume) is extended in three spatial dimensions and one time dimension. A domain wall is the boundary between two neighboring domains. Thus a domain wall is extended in two spatial dimensions and one time dimension.

Important examples are:

• Domain wall (magnetism), an interface separating magnetic domains
• Domain wall (optics), for domain walls in optics
• Domain wall (string theory), a theoretical 2-dimensional singularity."
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_wall
  

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conceptual spaces threshold concepts [#h2cm as] relational ontology	magnetism optics string theory
a space to tell stories of and compare walls seek openings so many spaces of / to welcome	these walls: are they necessary? whose needs do they meet? we know walls listen and talk too who do they protect? who do the respect?

Among the domain walls
are those that bring us together,
those that bring us - 'I' into being,
and yes, those that [try to] take us apart.

Inspiration:
Leslie Rosenberg, THE COSMOS IS MOSTLY MADE OF SOMETHING WE CANNOT SEE, Scientific American, January 2018, Volume 318, Number 1. pp.48-53.

Axioms, Domain Walls, and the Early Universe, P. Sikivie in Physical Review Letters, Volume 48. No. 17, pp.1156-1159; April 26, 1982.

Spark! Strike! c/o - Ack Lemn Sissay

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"Long before the Bryant and May Factory was opened in Fairfield Road, Bow in East London, Charles Dickens wrote, in 1852, about the risks of ‘phossy jaw' in matchmaking factories. Yet, when the factory was opened in 1861, they proceeded to use the dangerous white phosphorus that caused the disease." https://www.matchgirls1888.org/the-story-of-the-strike

Spark Catchers by Lemn Sissay "... The greatest threat to their lives was The sulferuous spite filled spit of diablo The molten madness of a spark They became spark catchers and on the word “strike” a parched arched woman would dive With hand outstretched to catch the light. And Land like a crouching tiger with fist high Holding the malevolent flare tight ‘til it became an ash dot in the palm. Strike. ..."

 

Lemn Sissay

https://www.matchgirls1888.org/the-story-of-the-strike

https://blog.lemnsissay.com/2013/07/05/spark-catchers-the-matchgirls-festival/

My source: Radio 3 Words and Music.

In health, education, in work: We are all - Four Loom Weavers

"The author Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, Private Peaceful) explores the ways in which folk songs have reflected timeless human experiences, both in the past and today. 

Michael Morpurgo

With help from singers, songwriters and other passionate experts, Michael admires the indelible stories within classic songs that deal with migration, war, protest and love. Over the four themed episodes, Michael considers the locations and historical contexts that gave rise to much-loved traditional songs, and finds out how the same topics are inspiring new folk songs in the 2020s.

In the second episode, Michael considers a song of protest: Four Loom Weaver. 

With Professor Lawrence Goldman, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Nancy Kerr, Karine Polwart, Nicola Kearey, Ian Carter, Blair Dunlop and Ashley Hutchings." BBC Radio 4

Michael Morpurgo's Folk Journeys

"Many Lancashire folk, can give personal testimony of relative having worked in such a role.

My maternal grandmother was a four loom cotton weaver until the mill, where she worked, in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, was closed and relocated to India in the 1920s approx. Mill workers worked their way up to four looms which were rented from the mill. Four was the maximum so my nan told me, so a four loom weaver was an indication of the level of attainment in the industry. So I think the title is probably correct and not a corruption of a poor loom weaver.

Will Lever, Malpas, Cheshire" Wikipedia

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Essay Competition: On the Principles of Intelligence c/o AI-SGES list

On December 17, 1903, two brothers from Dayton,
Ohio, named Wilbur and Orville Wright,
were successful in flying an airplane they built.

Dear all,

Around 1500, Leonardo da Vinci published his sketches of an aircraft with rounded wings, and in 1783 the first manned hot-air balloon took off. It wasn't until 1905 – over 4'000 years after the oldest known depiction of human flight was carved in clay – that the Wright Brothers took off for the first sustained, controlled, and heavier-than-air crewed flight. From today's point of view, the principles of aerodynamics necessary to build operational aircraft seem relatively trivial.

But only in retrospect are the results of such breakthroughs considered part of the 'obvious'. In 1957, psychologist Frank Rosenblatt published the first paper on trainable neural networks. Since then, humans have walked on the moon, the internet has been invented, and smart devices have been built to fit in our pockets – but neural networks have still not led to human-level artificial intelligence. Neural networks appear like wings that fly for a short time but then drop like a stone when confronted with unknown tasks. Therefore, we'd like to propose moving away from the current hype around neural networks and ask you more fundamentally:

Which fundamental principles of intelligence must be considered in the successful design of artificial intelligence?

The appropriate example from aviation would be: "What are the core aspects of flight that must be considered in the successful design of aircraft?" (One possible answer: As a curved airfoil wing flies through the sky, it deflects air and alters the air pressure above and below it. When moving forward, the curved upper part of the wing lowers the air pressure directly above it, so it moves upward.)

With that in mind, we challenge you to write an essay of 2'000 to 3'000 words and become the Wright Brothers in the field of AI! Whether you answer the question from a philosophical, biological, computational, mathematical, neuroscientific, psychological, social, or any other perspective is up to you. We value novel and insightful arguments that are useful in the field of AI.

Go to https://lab42.global/essay/ and hand in your essay by 23:59 GMT on December 31, 2022. The best essays are rewarded with 3'500 USD in total.

Best regards

Oliver Schmid
oliver.schmid AT lab42.global

https://lab42.global/essay

[Do read the guidance on the website. PJ]

Image use here: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_976.html
original credit - inc. Library of Congress

AI-SGES list

Universal Health Coverage Day c/o CHIC mailing list

Dear Peter,

Today, we recognize Universal Health Coverage Day and join partners around the world to advocate for #HealthForAll. How will we get there? Professional community health workers (CHWs) who are salaried, skilled, supervised, and supplied.

We have a long way to go. Millions of CHWs - 70% women - are not paid, supported, or supplied. And now, new evidence from the Coalition and collaborators spotlights the severity of stock-outs experienced by CHWs on the frontlines of care: CHWs are out of stock-out nearly ⅓ of the time, and the problem is getting worse.

This #UHCDay, we hope you'll join our #SupplyCHWs campaign to highlight the unacceptable frequency at which CHWs in low- and middle-income countries experience stock-outs and call for solutions to address this widespread issue.

Join the Campaign

In Solidarity,
The Coalition

 

READ: The first ever global estimate of the extent of stock outs among CHWs
SHARE: One-page summary with everything you need to know
ACT: Share the findings on social media and tag decision-makers to take action

Curious about the Coalition's other work? Read our latest update here and sign up to stay in the loop!)

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My access to health care Cognitive / Conceptual My health literacy (and other literacies)	logistics, stock control, 'Just in Time' Systematic Literature Review 'Coverage'?
Universal Health Coverage/Care communities paraprofessionals - lay individuals	Funding, Workforce planning SDGs Professional community health workers (CHWs) who are salaried, skilled, supervised, and supplied.

Olaniran, A., Briggs, J., Pradhan, A. et al. Stock-outs of essential medicines among community health workers (CHWs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): a systematic literature review of the extent, reasons, and consequences. Hum Resour Health 20, 58 (2022).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00755-8
https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-022-00755-8

There is no need for models of nursing ... they are 'old hat'

'Old hat'

"In nursing, however, its neglect of theorising and its obsession with 'doing' without thought have meant there is no commonly accepted model. Furthermore, the huge differences in the settings and client groups associated with nurses make it impossible ever to arrive at such an all-embracing model." p.51. Alan Pearson.

Since, nurses do think. Psycho-socially they use an implicit model - as we all do.

The health and social care workforce would benefit from a shared model of care, as would the general population as per assessment of literacy and health literacy in particular.

"Most nurses live in communities like Tameside*, where local staff of varied academic, practical and intellectual abilities nurse local people. Thus I would like to emphasise two major points:

1. Models must be built, described and used in language that is accessible to all levels of nursing staff.
2. A nursing model which focuses solely on the patient, and neglects or under estimates the nurses themselves and the social backcloth of the hospital and community is of little value. ...
   

... Elsewhere in this volume McFarlane notes how each nurse carries with her a 'private image of nursing'. One of the steps to creating a working model of nursing is that those private worlds must be brought closer together, to work in common and as a whole." p.40. Steve Wright.

*Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. Hodges' model was created by Brian E. Hodges (Ret. Senior Lecturer) at Manchester Polytechnic College, now Manchester Metropolitan University.

B. Kershaw and J. Salvage (Eds)  (1986) Models for Nursing, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Limited.

Hat image: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-35243823

This nurse needs to 'think' less, and do, act.
 

Northern Network for Medical Humanities Research Congress 2023 - Call for Papers

We are delighted to announce that the Call for Papers for Critical: NNMHR Congress 2023 has now gone live: http://nnmh.org.uk/nnmhr-congress-2023-call-for-submissions-and-theme-announcement/

The congress will be held online April 19-21 2023.

Reflecting on a decade since the ‘critical’ turn in medical humanities heralded by an experimental 2013 symposium hosted by Durham University, this congress—online for the second time—explores questions like:

• What does the ‘critical’ in critical medical humanities mean to you?
• What has critical medical humanities accomplished in the past ten years, and to what extent has it delivered on its early claims and promises?
• What is happening in the field today (and conversely, what is not happening enough)? Where is this happening, who is involved, and who and what has been left out or marginalised in this turn?
• What should be the aims and ambitions of critical medical humanities for the next ten years? What forms of material change should the field seeks to bring about, in what sites and settings, how, and for whom?

Abstracts are invited for: 

• ready-formed panels
• individual papers
• lightning talks
• video poster presentations

We particularly welcome abstracts from those who do not necessarily identify themselves as medical humanities researchers, as well as those working outside the formal structures of the university.

Please note that proposals should address one of the following thematic strands:

• Critical (what?)
• Collaboration (with whom?)
• Contexts (where?)
• Methods (how?)
• Materialities (to what effects?)

More information, including how to apply, can be found on the NNMHR website here. We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Best wishes,

The NNMHR Congress 2023 team

#nnmhr2023

Perspectives on Paternalism and Public Health - Report

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public MENTAL health 'individual wellbeing'	PUBLIC HEALTH 'individual wellbeing'
PUBLIC HEALTH 'benefitting a group’ 'Is there such a thing as group wellbeing?' 'sub-population' 'population' [ 'Benefits realisation' in technology, and policy. Social responsibility. ]	Perspectives on Paternalism and Public Health

"The difficulties with assessing public health policies in terms of the standard model of paternalism are often under-recognised and under-explored. Given the lack of attention paid to these issues, perhaps we should not be overly pessimistic that progress is possible. When it comes to public health policy and practice, we should avoid trying to take a pre-made theory and simply applying it. Instead, we should carefully reflect on the case of public health to help us improve our theorising about the nature and ethical significance of paternalism in general." p.11.

Perspectives on Paternalism and Public Health - Report, Compiled by Jonathan Parry, Farhang Tahzib and Jessica Begon. UK Faculty of Public Health. November 2022. ISBN: 978-1-900273-89-3

My source:
https://twitter.com/LSEPhilosophy/status/1600505409575403520?s=20&t=JEL9DUvUTntSTyGtViZDtQ