Call for Papers: Pain, Illness, Trauma and Death in Childhood
Deadline date: 31 Dec 2013
1 February 2014 University of Greenwich, Centre for the
Study of Play and Recreation, with the Society for the Study of Childhood in
the Past and the London Network for the History of Children Maritime Greenwich
Campus, London, United Kingdom
Pain, illness, trauma and death are intrinsic to the
shaping of childhood and to the experience of being a child. In the past, pain
could be perceived as beneficial, either in forming character or bringing the
subject closer to God. In the present, the enormous popularity of “misery
memoirs” raises questions as to why the theme of abuse has such resonance in
the twentieth and twenty-first century western world.
Topics include, but are not restricted to:
Contributions from history, sociology, anthropology,
archaeology, literary studies, psychology, philosophy, geography or health
studies
Pain, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual,
including that inflicted by children
Discipline and punishment
Analysis of the ways changing patterns of illness shaped
the experience of childhood
Methodological approaches (such as the history of the
emotions) or different sources (such as visual or material culture) for
analysing the experiences of children and their carers
Children’s experiences of war, including the First World War
Please e-mail abstracts of 250-300 words to playandrecreation@gre.ac.uk.
The conference is free, but registration (via this e-mail
address) is required.