PhD 2018 Conference - Empowered Bodies

REGISTRATION OPEN

Call for Papers

We are pleased to announce our Postgraduate Conference for students and researchers interested in the role of the body in social sciences and the concept of embodiment as a source of critical reflection in diverse disciplines. We invite abstracts that deal with embodiment in any thematic or methodological way, from a diverse range of disciplines like Gender Studies, Politics, Philosophy, Geography, Arts, Health, Media, STS, Social Policy and any other approach.

Topics include (but are not limited to):

• Power, gender and identity
• Politics of the body
• Body transformations
• Health, Food and Practices
• Disabilities, agency and control
• Affect and Emotions
• Technology, humans and cyborgs
• Body as Mediation
• Arts, performance and creation
• Cultural representations of the body
• Measurement, tracking and datafication of the self

Masters and PhD Students are particularly encouraged to submit an abstract, as well as other postgraduate students in early stages of analysis, as this is an excellent chance to present your work in a constructive and supportive environment. We also welcome works in progress by any other level of early career researchers.

If you are interested in presenting a paper, please submit an abstract of up to 300 words to empowered-bodies@york.ac.uk by Friday, 14 April 2018 at 5:00 pm.

We also welcome any other form of presentation or performance such music, dance, video, etc. as long as it can be fitted within the program. Please send us your idea with your abstract and try to be as specific as possible of any technical or room requirements and the kind of activity that you would like to present.

A limited number of travel bursaries will be available.

Further information will be released by the end of March 2018. Please direct all enquires to empowered-bodies@york.ac.uk

Registration Open  £5.00

Imagining the History of the Future: Unsettling Scientific Stories

27-29th March, 2018 | Ron Cooke Hub, University of York, UK


The future just isn’t what it used to be… not least because people keep changing it. Recent years have seen a significant growth of academic and public interest in the role of the sciences in creating and sustaining both imagined and enacted futures. Technological innovations and emergent theoretical paradigms gel and jolt against abiding ecological, social, medical or economic concerns: researchers, novelists, cartoonists, civil servants, business leaders and politicians assess and estimate the costs of planning for or mitigating likely consequences. The trouble is that thinking about the future is a matter of perspective: where you decide to stand constrains what you can see

With confirmed plenary speakers Professor Sherryl Vint (University of California, Riverside, USA) and Professor Charlotte Sleigh (University of Kent, UK) this three-day conference will bring together scholars, practitioners, and activists to explore ways in which different visions of the future and its history can be brought into productive dialogue.


To register (£40 full conference, or £20 per day) please follow this link https://store.york.ac.uk/product-catalogue/sociology/imagining-the-history-of-the-future-unsettling-scientific-stories


If you have any further queries please contact; unsettling-science@york.ac.uk

Programme available here

Decision-making During Childbirth Study

Interactional Practices of Decision Making During Childbirth in Maternity Units
Clare Jackson, Vicky Land, Lyn Brierley-Jones

Plain English Summary - Background and study aims

Government policy states that women in labour should be involved in decisions about their care and treatment. It is known what is said during labour matters for how women experience birth. However, policy recommendations to staff about how to communicate with women in labour are not based on evidence about what actually happens in birth. This is because most existing research is based on interviewing or surveying women some weeks after birth, so the details of what was said in labour are lost. Research is needed that provides details of actual talk about decisions during labour. The details of talk matter because as other studies of communication in medical settings have shown, even small changes in use of words can make a difference to what happens in healthcare e.g. one study in a GP setting showed that changing from ‘is there anything else?’ to ‘is there something else?’ increased the
number of reported symptoms told to the doctor. The aim of this study is to find out how decisions are reached and communication through the talk that happens between staff, women in labour and their birth partners when giving birth in maternity units. It also aims to provide staff and women with detailed information about the effects of talk during labour in order to inform and empower staff, women and birth partners.

Who can participate?
Women , their birth partners and health care practitioners.

What does the study involve?
Participants who consent to taking part in the study are video or audio recorded during labour and birth. This is to establish how decisions are made during labour and birth. Participants are also asked to complete an ante-natal and a post –natal questionnaire at 35 weeks and 6 weeks post birth respectively to assess the relationship between their expectations before birth, their birth experience and their satisfaction post-birth.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no direct risks or benefits to those taking part in the study.

Where is the study run from?
1. University of York (UK)
2. Calderdale Royal Hospital (UK)
3. Sheffield Royal Hallamshire Hospital (UK)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
May 2017 to March 2020

Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (UK)

Who is the main contact?
1. Professor Ellen Annandale (Scientific)
ellen.annandale@york.ac.uk
2. Dr Lyn Brierley-Jones (Public)
lyn.brierley-jones@york.ac.uk