CALL. 01.02.2017: Somatic-Times: Understanding the Relations between Human Bodies and Conceptions of
FECHA LÍMITE/DEADLINE/SCADENZA: 01/02/2017
FECHA CONGRESO/CONGRESS DATE/DATA CONGRESSO: 06-07/06/2017
LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: Hebrew University, Mount Scopus (Jerusalem, Israel)
ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Limor Meoded Danon (Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Humanities and Social Sciences) ; Orly Lewis (Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Humanities and Social Sciences)
INFO: call - limormdanon@gmail.com ; orly.lewis@mail.huji.ac.il
Body and time are perceived and researched in a variety of manners in different disciplines, ranging from quantitative conceptions and measurements of time and a cosmological-universal time to qualitative time, temporal experiences, duration of beings, sequence of events and so forth. There are also many ‘social times’ related to social phenomena such as holidays, ceremonies, work, weekends and so forth, as well as the individual experience and perception of time in the personal and social contexts. As for the body, it is measured, followed, defined and cured by the bio-medical discipline, while for the social scientist it is also a product of socio-cultural norms, psychological processes and phenomenological experiences. The aspect of time, moreover, plays an important role in scientific and social ideas, practices and discourse related to the body – and has done so for over two millennia. Scholars, practitioners and lay people talk of the ‘biological clock’, for instance, and measure, quantify and define somatic experiences and phenomena by means of temporal units and terms. This conference seeks to explore the empirical and theoretical dimensions of somatic-temporal relations, including the connection and tension between theory and practice and between individual experiences and scientific frameworks, as well as between ancient ideas of body and time and more modern ones. Our aim is to generate a transdisciplinary discussion among scholars and practitioners from the humanities and social and life sciences in order to examine methodological, practical and theoretical concepts of somatic times, including questions such as: how is time used in the assessment of the body – e.g. in diagnosing it as ‘healthy’, ‘normal’, ‘unhealthy’ or ‘abnormal? Who is responsible for defining somatic time-frames and what are the consequences of these definitions? How does the individual experience of time with respect to the body, or of the body with respect to time, relate to the social and scientific time-framing of bodies? Are there differences in the conceptions of somatic-temporal relations throughout history and across cultures? We invite proposals related, but not limited, to the following topics: • The normalization and regulation of human bodies through different time frames • The contradictions between somatic phenomenological experiences and social and scientific time frames • Demarcating ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ bodies with respect to time. • Lay and scientific terminology used with respect to the body-time relation • Social, psychological and cultural implications of ‘biological clocks’ and of technological disturbances thereof • The perception and experience of duration with respect to the body • The meaning of ‘time standing still’, ‘wasting time’ and ‘doing time’ with respect to somatic experiences and perceptions, for example: the somatic experience of time for prisoners, captives and hospitalized or housebound patients. • Methodological and theoretical aspects of somatic times • Body and time in the arts – between representation and experience SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words, please also include your name, affiliation, e-mail address and short bio (50 words). Submissions should be sent by February 1st 2017 to Limor Meoded Danon- limormdanon@gmail.com or to Orly Lewis orly.lewis@mail.huji.ac.il