Call for Papers: Perceptions of Pregnancy: From the Medieval to the Modern



Organised by School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom 16 - 18 July 2014






This three day conference aims to bring together scholars working across a range of disciplines, time periods and global perspectives to examine perceptions of pregnancy throughout history.


We welcome papers considering a range of issues, including, but not limited to,

-- Pregnancy, including the pregnant body and the experience of pregnancy,

-- Unlawful pregnancy, including rape, incest and sexual abuse,

-- Fertility and infertility, including IVF, miscarriage and still-birth,

-- Abortion and contraception, including pro-life and pro-choice debate,

-- Parenthood, single parenthood, and infanticide.



Potential themes for discussion are:


-- Magic, ritual and religion,

-- Technology and medicine,

-- Gender, including male involvement and experiences,

-- Government policy and politics,

-- Work life, domesticity and childcare.



300-word proposals for twenty-minute papers should be sent to the conference organisers by 1 February 2014. We welcome postgraduate papers.
Informal enquiries can be directed to Dr Jennifer Evans