December 05, 2009
Comics and Medicine: Medical Narrative in Graphic Novels
17th June 2010 School of Advanced Study, Institute of English Studies, University of London
Confirmed keynote lectures by Paul Gravett and Marc Zaffran
This one-day interdisciplinary conference aims to explore medical narrative in graphic novels and comics. Although the first comic book was invented in 1837 the long-format graphic narrative has only become a distinct and unique body of literary work relatively recently. Thanks in part to the growing Medical Humanities movement, many medical schools now encourage the reading of literature and the study of art to gain insights into the human condition. A serious content for comics is not new but representation of illness in graphic novels is an increasing trend. The melding of text and visuals in graphic fiction and non-fiction has much to offer medical professionals, students and, indeed, patients. Among the growing number of graphic novels, a sub-genre exploring the patients’ and the carers’ experiences of illness or disability has emerged.
Papers and posters are invited on issues related to, but not restricted to, the following themes:
• What motivates authors to produce graphic narratives with medical content?
• How does the audience for this growing genre differ from traditional markets for so-called ‘pathographies’?
• What additional insights can graphic narratives offer into healthcare compared with literature and film?
• What international trends are discernible in the production and reception of medical graphic narratives?
• What are the ethical implications of using graphic narratives to disseminate public health messages?
• What are the strengths of graphic fiction in bioethics conversations? In conversations between patients and health care workers?
• How have patients (and patient communities) turned to graphic fiction to communicate health care and advocacy information to other patients, their family and surrounding community, and their physicians?
• How do patient-created graphic fictions/narratives differ from physician-or health-care industry-created graphic narratives? What does this imply about the role played by graphic fiction in institutionalized medicine?
• How can graphic stories be used in medical education and patient education?
• What are the roles of graphic stories in enhancing communication within the medical profession, in scholarship and in the medical humanities?
Contributions are sought from humanities scholars, comics scholars, healthcare professionals, comics enthusiasts, writers and cartoonists.
300 word proposals for a 20 minute paper or a poster should be submitted by Friday 29th January 2010 to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this order: author(s), affiliation, email address, title of abstract, body of abstract We acknowledge receipt and answer to all proposals submitted. Abstracts will be peer reviewed blind and papers for presentation will be selected by Friday 26th of February 2010.
See http://graphicmedicine.org/#/conference-2010/4536634000 for complete call information in PDF format.
Posted in Opportunities on December 05, 2009
December 05, 2009
Karlshochschule International University is organizing an international conference on “Narratives and Innovation” with the aim to bring together scholars and practitioners from different contexts to discuss about the topic. The conference forms part of an interpretive approach towards business administration, strategic management, and entrepreneurship, by introducing instruments of semiotics, linguistics, narratology, and others. The topic of the conference therefore is open to a bundle of scientific and industrial perspectives.
Particularly desired are papers about the topics of the conference which cover any subject in the broader field of narrative and innovation.
Three types of contributions are welcome
1. Presentation
2. Poster
3. Panel
1. Presentation
Presentations should not extend duration of 20 minutes. Please send in an abstract (one page, word-document).
2. Poster
If you do not want to present a communication but to discuss your project, please send in a proposal for a poster. During the conference there will be a time slot for poster presentations.
3. Panel suggestions
We provide an opportunity to hand in suggestions for panels. A panel is meant to be an open space discussion or a debate about specific topics related to the conference’s subject. Your abstract (one page, word-document) should include the topic of the panel, a short description of its objectives, the name of the panel chair and potential participants (at least three persons). Panels should not extend duration of 120 minutes.
The publishing of papers is planned short time after the conference. Therefore, the contributors are kindly asked to submit the final versions of the papers until the start of the conference, 15th of September 2010. Panel chairs are encouraged to send in conversational genres, e.g. interviews or discussions.
Important information for the authors:
Deadline for the delivery of suggestions is the 31st of May 2010.
Notification of the acceptance will be submitted the latest until the 30th of June 2010.
Papers must be written and presented in English. Submission as Word-Document (via submission form) or E-Mail.
For more information: http://narrative-and-innovation.com/call-for-papers/
Posted in Opportunities on December 05, 2009
November 22, 2009
The thing I find most fascinating about this video is the reframing of the iPhone’s use. Picture the father sitting with his child and playing with the iPhone but remove the paper book. There’s no romance without the book. Reading to our kids is a valued activity. Playing with an electronic device is, well, not as valued. How does the manufacturer of this product overcome that paradigm? They wrap the phone in a book and make them interdependent.
Perhaps newspapers could be delivered this way. Same with magazines. But why? Why waste the paper? Just use the device.
PS - Did you notice the father pushing his kid’s finger out of the way so that he can draw a smile face?
Posted in Applied Narrative on November 22, 2009 : Comments (0)
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