science and culture

Aging & Social Change: Seventeenth Interdisciplinary Conference, University de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, 3-5 November 2027

The organizers of the PCA’s special topic on UFOs, Cryptids, Conspiracies, and the Paranormal welcome proposals for papers and presentations from an interdisciplinary range of fields, including sociology, literature, media studies, anthropology, folklore, religion, history, political science, medieval studies, rhetoric, education, and bibliography. Papers in this area will not seek to prove or disprove the reality of any of the stigmatized subjects under discussion; instead, they will explore the cultural forces at work in their origin and development, their form and content, and the audiences that receive them.

This roundtable seeks to put in conversation Blue Humanities from around the world, exploring how literature, cultural texts, and film can inform, reveal, or create new ideological perspectives on water. Informed by Blue Humanities, as well as a global movement to protect water’s right to flow and be free from pollution (Ecuador Constitution of 2008: Rights of Nature, Policy Brief: Water rights in Chile, Canada Water Act of 1985, among others), this timely roundtable connects directly with NeMLA’s 58th Annual Convention theme of Empowering Communities. As the theme specifies, cultural knowledge serves as a source of empowerment, and literature, cultural texts, and film are primary ways that cultural knowledge is shared amongst communities.

 Society for Reformation Research (SRR) welcomes 20 minute papers across the disciplines for our four Virtual Sessions at the 62nd Medieval Congress May 13-15, 2027. Focus on the Long Reformation (medieval roots to current iterations).

Sessions are:

In recent decades, the scientific search for extraterrestrial life has undergone a significant conceptual transformation. Earlier astrobiological research largely focused on identifying environments similar to those on Earth—particularly the presence of water and organic molecules—as indicators that life might exist elsewhere in the universe. Increasingly, however, scientists recognize that truly alien life may not resemble terrestrial biology at all. Rather than searching only for “life as we know it,” astrobiologists now explore the possibility that organisms could arise from unfamiliar biochemical systems, rely on alternative solvents, or take forms that challenge our current definitions of life.This shift has important cultural implications.

In his book, Bioinsecurities: Disease Interventions, Empire, and the Government of Species (2016), Neel Ahuja’s theory of “the body as a transitional theater of imperial warfare” explores how the control of human and nonhuman bodies proliferated the expansion of empire over the 19th century to the present. Despite the growing hegemony of biomedical control, there have always been and continue to be significant moments of resistance and agency in which marginalized (colonized/Indigenous) communities have challenged or reformulated/redefined the concepts of body, disease, and health.

Conference Dates: 23-24 October, 2026

Format: Online (via Zoom)

International, interdisciplinary conference titled:

Healing Narratives: Exploring Humanity in Medicine and Healthcare

In the realm of medicine and healthcare, narratives- whether spoken, written, visual, or performed- serve among others as powerful tools to humanize clinical experiences, challenge biomedical paradigms as well as foster empathy and understanding. These stories reveal the complex interplay between biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of health, illuminating the ways in which healing is intertwined with human dignity, identity, and societal values.

International, interdisciplinary conference titled:

Healing Narratives: Exploring Humanity in Medicine and Healthcare

In the realm of medicine and healthcare, narratives- whether spoken, written, visual, or performed- serve among others as powerful tools to humanize clinical experiences, challenge biomedical paradigms as well as foster empathy and understanding. These stories reveal the complex interplay between biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of health, illuminating the ways in which healing is intertwined with human dignity, identity, and societal values.

Conference Call for Papers

The Star Wars 50 Years academic conference will be held by the University of Leicester and the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space at Space Park Leicester on 21-22 May 2027 in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the original release of the film on 25 May 1977 in the U.S. We are now inviting proposals for conference presentations.

Conference Organisers:

Twenty-Third International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, 8-9 April 2027

Founded in 2005, the Technology, Knowledge & Society Research Network is brought together by a shared interest in the complex and subtle relationships between technology, knowledge and society.

Twenty-Third International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Societyfor research addressing the following annual themes and special focus:

2027 Special Focus—THE CYBER-SOCIAL CONDITION: Knowledge, Learning, and Human Futures

Theme 1: Histories of Technology
Theme 2: Knowledge Makers
Theme 3: Social Realities

Seventeenth International Conference on Food Studies, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France, 9-10 September 2027

Founded in 2011, the Food Studies Research Network is brought together around a common interest to explore new possibilities for sustainable food production and human nutrition, and associated impacts of food systems on culture. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic, and cultural boundaries. As a Research Network, we are defined by our scope and concerns and motivated to build strategies for action framed by our shared themes and tensions.

The Seventeenth International Conference on Food Studies calls for research addressing the following themes.

Nineteenth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 20-22 January 2027

Founded in 2009, the Climate Change: Impacts & Responses Research Network is brought together by a common concern for the science of, and social responses to, climate change. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic, and cultural boundaries. As a Research Network, we are defined by our scope and concerns and motivated to build strategies for action framed by our shared themes and tensions.