War, Medicine and Psychiatry Workshop

british army

© IWM (H 18457)

War, Medicine and Psychiatry: Theories, Practices and Histories Workshop

Friday 18 September 2015

Western Sydney University Parramatta Campus

Call For Papers

Papers are invited for a symposium on the relationship between war and the theory and practice of medicine and psychiatry. We welcome a broad range of perspectives that reflect on the ways in which wartime has shaped the disciplines of medicine and psychiatry in both military and civilian spheres.

Topics might include but are not limited to:

  • Particular medical problems of war, such as the management of specific diseases, the prevention and treatment of venereal disease, and the practice of surgery in the field.
  • The history of post-combat psychological syndromes, such as shell shock and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as the management of PTSD in the present day.
  • Historical and contemporary understandings of the 'trauma' of war.
  • Wartime medical research, including the development of new treatments, therapies and technologies.
  • The experiences of both practitioners and patients during wartime and in the aftermath of conflict.
  • The influence of gender, sexuality, race and class in shaping the practice of medicine and psychiatry in wartime.
  • Representations of medical and psychiatric themes in literature and art.

Please send an abstract of no more than 200 words and a short biographical note to symposium convener Elizabeth Roberts-Pedersen by 1 July 2015.