Violence, Health, and the (Health) Humanities

In seeking to define the parameters of the health humanities, researchers have often spotlighted the field’s interest in examining issues of social justice. As Arno K. Kumagai and Thirusha Naidu write, the health humanities are often viewed as a “salve that may be spread liberally, not only over the injuries from disease but over the dehumanising wounds caused by health care” (2020, 83). Yet Kumagai and Naidu also point out the “self-inflicted wounds” administered by the field of health humanities itself, due to an apparent lack of clarity and specificity around its purpose and value. Through pondering whether the field is committing or perpetuating harm, Kumagai and Naidu’s language brings violence to the forefront of the health humanities, as well as to the experience of illness and the pursuit of health more broadly. However, the role of violence (whether physical, emotional, structural, environmental) in relation to health and the (health) humanities remains relatively unevenly theorised. The recent Keywords for Health Humanities (2023) does not, for example, include an entry on violence, though entries on harm, pain, and trauma are covered.

This workshop brings together researchers at University College Dublin working on issues of violence and health (both broadly conceived) within the humanities and adjacent areas. The workshop includes flash-talk presentations of 10 minutes, alongside a roundtable discussion on the connections between violence, health, and the (health) humanities. Lunch, as well as tea, coffee, and biscuits, will be provided for all attendees. All very welcome!

Workshop schedule

12.30–13:00: Lunch (in foyer outside H.204)

13:00–13:15: Welcome (in H.204)

13:15–14:15: Flash-talk Panel 1

• Dr Maria Butler (Centre for Cultural Analytics), 'Popular Fiction as Policy Critique: Marian Keyes and the Legacies of Systemic Violence Against Women'
• Dr Jeanne Tiehen (School of English, Drama and Film), 'The Harm of the Monster: Violent Representations of Disability'
• Dr Morten Greaves (School of Education), 'Currents of Displacement: Forced Displacement and the Path to Primary School in Ireland'

14:15–14:45: Break with tea and coffee

14:45–15:45: Flash-talk Panel 2

• Dr Ge Tang (School of English, Drama and Film), 'A Chinese Gold Miner’s Appeal from the Lunatic Asylum of Colonial Melbourne'
• Dr Jeremiah Garsha (School of History), 'Force of Habit: Alcohol Consumption and the Gendered Violence of Empire'
• Dr Oluwaseun Williams (School of History), 'Two Exegeses on Pain and Cruelty: Animal Slaughter and Multispecies Wellbeing in Colonial Nigeria'

15:45–16:00: Break

16:00–17:00: Roundtable

• Dr Pascale Baker (School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics)
• Dr Ailise Bulfin (School of English, Drama and Film)
• Dr Alice Mauger (School of History)
• Dr Sarah Morton (School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice)

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Host or Publisher Sophie Franklin