[ecrea] CfP - Living in Emergency: humanitarianism and medicine - European Spring School

9th European Spring School on History of Science and Popularization

*Living in Emergency: humanitarianism and medicine*

Mahon / Maó (Menorca), 18-20 May 2016

Coordinated by Jon Arrizabalaga (IMF-CSIC, Barcelona), J. Carlos 
García-Reyes

(ICIII, Madrid), Dolores Martín-Moruno (IEH2, Université de Genève) and

Àlvar Martínez-Vidal (IHMCLópez Piñero, Universitat de València)

*CALL FOR PAPERS AND POSTERS*

Present-day humanitarian crises, such as the Syrian Civil War and the 
subsequent refugee exodus, highlight the challenges of providing 
emergency medical relief to populations in distress, resulting from 
armed conflict or catastrophe, whether provoked by natural or artificial 
causes. Recent publications have also echoed the increasing concern with 
humanitarian medicine in the contemporary world, particularly, since the 
creation of Doctors Without Borders (/Médecins Sans Frontières/) 
following the Biafra War. The growing importance of humanitarian 
medicine is also reflected in the creation of university chairs in the 
field, as it has become an integrated part of the curricula of numerous 
North American and European medical schools.

Despite its widespread use, the term “humanitarian medicine” is a 
relatively new term and remains vague because it refers to a collection 
of heterogeneous practices that have historically evolved from very 
different disciplines such as war medicine, nursing, epidemiology and, 
even, food sciences. The European Spring School [ESS] “Living in 
Emergency: humanitarianism and medicine”, aims to delve into this 
history by reconstructing emergency humanitarian interventions (mostly 
based on medical technologies) in wars and other disasters, from the 
mid-nineteenth century, (when the Red Cross movement was created) to 
nowadays. More specifically, the school aims at providing a historical 
perspective on humanitarian medicine by paying particular attention to 
three major issues, namely *bodies*, *gender*, and *emotions* through 
three different types of sources that are intimately linked to the 
development of modern humanitarianism: *written narratives*, 
*photography* and *cinema*. This multidisciplinary approach is intended 
to give new insights into past humanitarian action as well as to 
stimulate reflection on current humanitarian crises.

As in previous sessions, this ESS is structured in key-note lectures and 
research workshops. Lectures will be delivered by the following 
outstanding scholars:

-Rony Brauman (CRASH) and Bertrand Taithe (University of Manchester): 
/Humanitarianism: Past and Present/

-Sébastien Farré (Maison de l’histoire, Université de Genève): /Cinema 
and Humanitarianism (1914-1945): mobilization and propaganda/

-Dolores Martín-Moruno (iEH2, Université de Genève): /Gendering 
humanitarian war narratives: Nursing within the history of compassion/

-Francesca Piana (SUNY Binghamton, USA): /Of suffering and healing: 
gendered bodies and emotions in the history of humanitarian photography/

The ESS “Living in Emergency: humanitarianism and medicine” is open to 
graduate students, young scholars, professionals, and activists 
concerned about the past and the present of humanitarian medicine and, 
more generally, of emergency humanitarian action. Participants are 
invited to submit proposals of papers and posters which will 
pre-circulate and be briefly presented and discussed in the workshops. 
They would be expected to address such issues as:

-Humanitarian narratives, and their sources (official records, medical 
reports, personal writings, etc.)

-Witnessing suffering in wars and other disasters through technologies 
like photography and cinema

-Agencies and agendas (colonialism, national patriotism, 
internationalism, religious or political proselytism, war propaganda, 
etc.) in humanitarian medicine

-The creation of emotional responses towards vulnerable bodies in 
humanitarian crises

-Gender, emotions, and humanitarian action

-Caring practices and medical technologies in humanitarian action

-Categories of victims in wars and other disasters (wounded soldiers, 
prisoners, refugees, children, women, the disabled, etc.)

-Situated knowledges versus pure science in emergency medicine

-Relationships between humanitarian action and other spheres (national 
policies, international politics, international law, etc.)

-Risk in humanitarian action and emotions (compassion fatigue, victim 
resentment, etc.).

Proposals of approximately 500-600 words summarising the contents of the 
paper or poster, historical actors, main focus and general approach, 
accompanied by a brief CV (one page) of the author(s) are due by *15^th 
 October 2016*. A limited number of grants (covering conference fees, 
accommodation and/or travel) may be available for those presenting 
papers and posters. Please direct proposals or queries to the ESS 
coordinators via the following e-mail address:(ESSMahon2017 /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(ESSMahon2017 /at/ gmail.com)>

Further details on the current and previous sessions of this ESS are 
provided at the website: 
http://blogs.iec.cat/schct/activitats-2/escola-de-primavera/9th-european-spring-school/

Organising institutions of the 9^th  ESS:

-Institut Menorquí d’Estudis (IME), Maó

-Societat Catalana d’Història de la Ciència i la Tècnica (SCHCT)

-Institución Milà i Fontanals (IMF), CSIC, Barcelona

-Institut Ethique Histoire Humanités (Programme d’histoire de la 
médecine), Université de Genève

-Institut d’Història de la Medicina i de la Ciència López Piñero (IHMC), 
Universitat de València

With the support of the European Society for the History of Science






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