Du 2 juillet 2007 au 6 juillet 2007
Montpellier
Young and early-career stage scholars (ie either engaged in doctoral or post-doctoral research) are warmly invited to apply for a place on this week-long seminar on the Body and its Images in the Eigthteenth Century. Most expenses (apart from travel) will be met by the seminar. Proceedings will be published by Champion in the "Lumières internationales" series. Deadline for applications (details below) 15 December 2006.
The Body and its Images : Health, Humours, Illnesses.
Representing the body was one of the major Enlightenment debates.
Practitioners of anthropometrics measured bodies. Artists and doctors studied them in their most minute details. Novelists and playwrights breathed life into them. The link between the madman's healthy body and his sick mind challenged scientists and philosophers alike. Ex-votos showed the return to life of bodies which were thought to have been lost. By comparing healthy and unhealthy bodies, one poses the question of what is normal. Literature, art and music accompanied trends in medicine, science and technique. Beyond real or imaginary physical bodies, represented, dissected and anatomised, the health of metaphorical bodies provided a means of thinking through norms in other fields such as the state, society or the body politic. Anatomical and medical reflections were transposed into the areas of politics or society and, in the same way, the microcosm served as a model for the macrocosm.
Historians, historians of literature, art, ideas, science etc. are invited to join medical historians to debate the question of the representation of (un)healthy bodies, be they real or metaphorical, during a seminar which will be held in Montpellier, a town famous for its medical tradition.
The seminar will take place from Monday July 2nd to Friday July 6th 2007. It is placed under the responsibility of Professor
Catriona Seth (Université de Nancy II) and Dr Caroline Warman (Jesus College, Oxford).
Proposals must involve original research (for instance within the framework of a PhD) and concern one or other of the approaches suggested. As it is a seminar, not a colloquium, each participant will dispose of about an hour to present his or her text and a collective discussion will ensue. English and French are the official languages of the seminar.
Researchers who are at the start of their career (doctorate or equivalent obtained after 2001) will be given priority over other candidates. The members of the organising committee will accept a maximum of 15 proposals.
Each proposal must include the following:
- A brief CV including the date when the PhD was gained.
- A list of the candidate's main publications and papers given over the
preceding years.
- A short description of the proposed paper (about 2 single-spaced pages)
- A letter of recommendation.
- An indication of the candidate's proficiency in foreign languages. Board and lodging will be funded by the organisers along with transport costs (inasmuch as possible depending on the finances at the seminar's disposal and candidates' needs).
The proceedings will be published in the "Lumières internationales" series by Champion in Paris.
Please send your proposal by post to arrive by December 15th 2006 to:
Catriona Seth,
Faculté des lettres,
Université de Nancy II,
B. P. 13397,
54015 Nancy Cedex
France
Caroline Warman,
Jesus College
Oxford OX1 3DW
Angleterre
caroline.warman@jesus.ox.ac.uk
