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