Young Scholars in Medical Humanities Conference
- Date
- 5–6 November 2026
- Location
- Humanities Theatre, Uppsala University
- Type
- Conference
- Organiser
- Centre for Medical Humanities
- Contact person
- Martina Wallberg
Join us in Uppsala at the Humanities Theatre on 5–6 November 2026 for an international conference on current research in medical humanities.
The conference is organized by the Centre for Medical Humanities (CMH) and the Doctoral School in Medical Humanities at Uppsala University.
About the conference
The interdisciplinary field of medical humanities moves beyond the idea that the humanities, along with the arts and social sciences, are either supportive of or oppositional to medicine. Instead, the current critical wave within the field recognises that health, illness, and medicine are produced through entangled social, cultural, political, and material processes, without which they cannot be fully understood (Viney et al. 2015; Fernyhough 2024). This understanding of the dynamics between medicine and the humanities creates an interdisciplinary space in which contributors from different disciplines can inform and challenge one another (Engebretsen, Fraas Henrichsen & Ødemark, 2020). Working across sites such as clinics, laboratories, and policies, critical medical humanities seeks not only to analyse medicine but to participate in its ongoing making and unmaking. This conference aims to explore how emerging scholars are shaping the future of the field of medical humanities.
The keynote lecture will be given by Professor Angela Woods
Who Should Attend?
The conference welcomes doctoral students and early-career postdoctoral researchers (within three years of completion) with an interest in, and contributions to, the field of critical medical humanities.
Guide for Contributors
Proposals for oral presentations are welcome. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Programme Committee based on scientific merit and relevance to the conference theme.
Presentation proposals should include:
- A presentation title
- An abstract (maximum 250 words)
- Full name and contact details (including affiliation and email address)
All proposals should be submitted via this link.
Please note that in-person attendance is expected. The conference language is English.
The deadline for submissions is 23 April 2026.
Participation in the conference is free of charge. The definite program will be available in September.
For any questions regarding the conference, please contact martina.wallberg@ekhist.uu.se