Histoire du soin

Care In The Past: Archaeological and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

One of the major social challenges faced today is the provision of care for the elderly, the disabled and the young within society, with contemporary debates dominating local, national and global agendas. The importance of the study of care has been recognised by all research councils, resulting in the formation of the cross-council programme on Lifelong Health and Well-Being. In addition, the AHRC has highlighted the topic of Care in the Past as one of its four priority themes for current research, stressing the importance of historical knowledge in policy formation. Until recently the study of care has been shied away from in archaeological thought. However, cutting-edge research in both archaeology and bioarchaeology has begun generating questions that implicate care, particularly with regards to the social identity of those who required it. Such research, whilst promising, is still incipient, and the ways in which archaeology can contribute to and interact with other disciplines concerned with historical care have yet to be realised. This research dialogue will contribute to the greater awareness of this emerging research field by allowing engagement between academics and research students from multiple disciplines. As such, we are keen to invite both attendance and participation from individuals from all backgrounds who have an interest in historic notions of care, medicine and treatment.

Saturday 6th October 2012 - Joachin Room, College of St. Hild and St. Bede
The culmination of the research dialogue will be a one-day conference showcasing emerging original inter-disciplinary research in this field from both within and outside the university. We invite submissions for papers of no more than 20 minutes showcasing original research examining notions and practices of care from all historic periods and disciplines. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary approaches that utilise archaeological evidence alongside other sources. Abstracts should be no more than 500 words, and should be submitted to careinthepast@gmail.com.

The deadline for submissions is the 20th July 2012. The authors of accepted papers will be notified by the 3rd August.
We will also welcome the submission of poster presentations along the themes of the conference. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words.
Lindsay Powell and Will Southwell-Wright
Care in the Past Research Dialogue Co-ordinators
Department of Archaeology, Durham University
careinthepast@gmail.com