International Seminar Series: Medical Humanities in East Asia and Beyond

Description

This seminar series explores the intersection of medicine, health and the humanities across diverse cultural landscapes, with a focus on East Asia. It aims to broaden the scope of medical humanities by integrating new perspectives from history, literature, anthropology, sociology, ethics and cultural studies to deepen our understanding of health and wellness in different sociocultural contexts. This series will explore the development of medical humanities in the Asian context, highlighting lessons, risks, and opportunities from a cross-cultural perspective. It aims to bridge the dialogue between the East and the West, fostering conversations among scholars in East Asia and the broader global community.

The series features interdisciplinary talks that examine how cultural beliefs, historical epochs and societal norms influence medical practices and healthcare policies across East Asia and its global interactions. By incorporating case studies from China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asian nations, the seminars will investigate traditional and contemporary health practices, the impact of global medical discourses on local health identities and the role of cultural narratives in shaping responses to disease, mental health and healthcare innovations.

Highlighting the importance of cultural competency in medical practice, this series will engage scholars and students in a dialogue that promotes a more nuanced approach to health care that respects cultural differences and addresses the challenges of global health disparities. Through these discussions, participants will gain insights into the potential of the medical humanities to foster more inclusive and effective healthcare solutions.

This seminar series takes place in collaboration with scholars from Shanghai University, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Fudan University to emphasise the crucial role of scholars of China and East Asia in driving the further development of medical humanities worldwide. It will address various issues and approaches, such as narrative medicine, ecoprecarity, mental health, psychiatry, alternative medicine, psychedelics and environmentalism.

Invited speakers:
Rong Huang (Peking University)
Meng Zhang (University of Manchester)
Taewoo Kim (Kyung Hee University)
Suzuki Akihito (The University of Tokyo)
Ioannis Gaitanidis (Chiba University)
Krittapak Ngamvaseenont (University of Manchester)
Angela Woods (Durham University )
Reiko Kanazawa (Nagoya University)
Alex Gearin (The University of Hong Kong)
Guo Liping (Peking University)
Chris Berry (King’s College London)

Funded: Wellcome Trust
Organisations: Centre for the Social History of Health & Healthcare, Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM) at Manchester University, Fudan University, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Shanghai University

Period	12 Sept 2024 → 19 Nov 2024
Event type	Seminar
Location	Shanghai, ChinaShow on map