3rd Global Conference: Making Sense Of: Suffering
3rd Global Conference
Making Sense Of: Suffering
Tuesday 13th November ? Thursday 15th November 2012
Salzburg, Austria
Call for Papers:
This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference
seeks to explore if, or to what extent, meaning
can be found in suffering. During the course of
living our lives, we are invariably forced to stop
and question why we suffer ? be it through
illness, pain, loss, grief or the multitude of
distressing circumstances which we encounter.
Problems arise in a variety of contexts and due to
a bewildering variety of conditions. And because
our lives are constant streams of experience, the
nature of suffering and consequently the 'meaning'
of such suffering continually varies and changes.
The conference aims to raise and assess a variety
of questions related to the nature of suffering,
the origins of suffering, the 'meaning' of
suffering, explanations for suffering and
responding to suffering. Papers, workshops,
presentations and pre-formed panels are invited on
any of the following themes:
I. What is Suffering?
- Defining 'suffering'. What is 'suffering'?
How do we approach 'suffering'?
- Is suffering unique or exclusive to human beings?
- Non-human suffering
- Categories of suffering. Suffering as: a
problem; a condition; an expression; an
experience; a position of powerlessness; a
consequence of meaninglessness; a result of
affliction.
II. The Roots of Suffering
- The origins of suffering
- Suffering as universal; as international; as
national; as local; as particular
- Suffering and history
- The contexts and conditions of suffering
- Producing suffering
III. The Meaning of Suffering
- Suffering and meaning
- Suffering and language
- What is at stake when dealing with suffering?
- The 'limits' of suffering
- The dangers of suffering
IV. Explaining Suffering
- Suffering and explanation
- Theories of suffering: the work of the
disciplines
- Theories of suffering: the work of the
professions
- Theories of suffering: the work of the vocations
- Silence and suffering
V. Suffering and Practice
- Suffering, apathy and indifference
- Alleviating suffering
- Practices causing, prolonging, truncating,
overcoming, relieving or resolving suffering
- Suffering, hope and despair
VI. Suffering and Religion
- Suffering from the perspective of religious
traditions
- Suffering and sacred texts
- Portraits of suffering and sufferers
- Suffering and 'redemption'
- Suffering and atheism
VII. Representing Suffering
- Suffering and representation
- Suffering in literature
- Suffering in the media
- Suffering in tv, film, theatre and radio
- Suffering in cybercultures
VIII. Confronting Suffering
- Meaning, suffering and action
- Overcoming suffering
- Should suffering be overcome?
- Case studies
- Practice(s), resolution(s), settlement
Papers will be considered on any related theme.
300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday
4th May 2012. If an abstract is accepted for the
conference, a full draft paper should be submitted
by Friday 3rd August 2012.
300 word abstracts should be submitted to the
Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word,
WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d)
title of abstract, e) body of abstract, f) up to
10 keywords
E-mails should be entitled: Suffering3 Abstract Submission
Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain
from using any special formatting, characters or
emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline).
Please note that a Book of Abstracts is planned
for the end of the year. All accepted abstracts
will be included in this publication. We
acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper
proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply
from us in a week you should assume we did not
receive your proposal; it might be lost in
cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an
alternative electronic route or resend.
Organising Chairs
Nate Hinerman
Nursing/Theology and Religious Studies
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Rob Fisher
Network Leader
Inter-Disciplinary.Net,
Freeland, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
E-Mail: [email protected]
The conference is part of the Making Sense Of:
series of research projects, which in turn belong
to the Probing the Boundaries programmes of
Inter-Disciplinary.Net. It aims to bring together
people from different areas and interests to share
ideas and explore discussions which are innovative
and challenging. All papers accepted for and
presented at this conference are eligible for
publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may
be invited to go forward for development into a
themed ISBN hard copy volume.
For further details of the project, please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/making-sense-
of/suffering/
For further details of the conference, please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/making-sense-
of/suffering/call-for-papers/
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