Comics and Medicine Conference, Stages & Pages, Dundee, Scotland, 7-9 July 2016 - Call for papers

Call for Papers

7th International Comics & Medicine Conference: Stages & Pages

Submit Abstracts by Feb 12th, 2016

7th July-9th July 2016 Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee, Scotland

Keynote Speakers: Lynda Barry, Al Davison & Elisabeth El Refaie

& a special workshop with Lynda Barry & Dan Chaon

Theme

The theme of this year’s conference, Stages & Pages, invites us to think about comics and healthcare in relation to performance in its myriad conflicting and complementary forms. Both clinicians and patients often feel the need to live up to prescribed “roles” both on and off the medical “stage”, and this conference will consider the various ways in which comics address these issues. We invite the submission of a wide variety of abstracts focusing on medicine and comics in any form (e.g. graphic novels, comic strips, manga, web comics) that examine topics including, but not limited to:

• Comic narratives of stages of life, illness, and the medical career
• Stages of the creative process, process as performance, and the relation of the
creative process to disability, illness, and medicine
• The comic/body as stage
• Comics and the social performance of illness, disability, and the healthcare
profession
• Technical performance in healthcare, illness, disability, and comics
• The use of space in performance, illness, disability, and healthcare
• Ethical implications of comics and performance
• Trends in, histories of, or the use of comics in healthcare
• The use of comics and design in the service of healthcare education
• Intermedia approaches to comics and healthcare (animation, theatre, digital
comics, apps etc.)

Formats

• Lightning talks: 5-minute presentations with up to 15 slides. This format is meant to encourage submission of short presentations to share your work (e.g. comics, new research projects, new ideas) in a concise format
• Oral presentations: 15- to 20-minute presentations
• Panel discussions: 90-minute interviews or presentations by a panel of
speakers
• Workshops: 90-minute sessions intended to be “hands-on” interactive
workshops for participants who wish to obtain particular skills with regard to comics and medicine. Suggested subjects for workshops are:
o creating comics
o understanding, reviewing, and critiquing comics o getting comics published
o teaching and learning with comics

We will also entertain suggestions for discussion groups

Submission Process

Proposals may be in Word, PDF, or RTF formats with the following information in this order:
• author(s)
• affiliation
• email address
• phone number
• title of abstract
• body of abstract
• sample images or web links to work being discussed
• presentation preference (see format options above)
• equipment needed (e.g. AV projection, whiteboard, easel, etc.)

300 word proposals should be submitted online by Friday, February 12, 2016 to: graphic.medicine.conference@gmail.com Abstracts will be peer-reviewed by an interdisciplinary selection committee. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be completed by mid March 2016. While we cannot guarantee that presenters will receive their first choice of presentation format, we will attempt to honour preferences, and we will acknowledge the receipt of all proposals.

Please note:

Presenters are responsible for session expenses (e.g. handouts and supplies) and personal expenses (travel, hotel, and registration fees). All presenters must register for the conference.

Image courtesy of Andrew Godfrey