The Healthy Body
The Healthy Body
Abstract Submission Deadline: May 31, 2017
Conference Dates: August 22 & 23, 2017
Call for Presentations
‘A healthy mind can lead you to a healthy body – and a much happier life.’ ‘3 Ways to Have a Good General Healthy Body’. ‘Keep your body looking its best – inside and out.’ ‘The secret to a healthy body is simple and actually not too difficult, but all the same it does take daily discipline.’ We come across such messages on a daily basis, encouraging us to follow the path to a healthy body and, consequently, a happier and healthier life. Health has become a value in itself and the body is the subject of our self-improvement projects, as well as the object upon which an increasingly embodied self exerts control. Toned, tanned, fit, cleansed, cosmetically and surgically enhanced, digitally measured and monitored, healthy bodies are not, however, only an attribute of Western societies. Practices and values associated with the ‘new morality of health’ (Beck and Beck Gernsheim, 2001) have spread across cultures, being promoted by media and popular culture. Furthermore, Western understandings of the healthy body exist alongside each culture’s own ideal body. Age, gender, ethnicity and race bring about significantly distinct models of a healthy body, as well as limiting the range of ideal bodies one can attain and enforcing bodily stereotypes. However, a large industry has developed to cater to the wishes of those who seek to overcome stereotypes, or pursue the healthy body. In the process, this industry commodifies health and has transformed the landscape of illness prevention, beauty standards and personal identity.
How is the healthy body, in all its embodiments, represented in popular media? What sort of bodily models does the popular media promote and how do these differ across cultures? How is the healthy body represented in art, cinema and literature? Does the body act as a stable background for the artistic effort, or is it problematized? Medical information is at the foundation of the healthy body; how is it integrated in the popular understanding of the healthy body? What is the medical representation of the healthy body? How have artistic, popular and medical representations of the healthy body changed through history?
Most of us live through normal, more or less healthy bodies, highlighting the fact that the healthy body is more likely a perpetual project requiring constant maintenance and effort to keep up with an ever changing model. Furthermore, sick, disabled and atypical bodies emphasize this aspect of the healthy body as process, as well as the underlying social norms and politics which guide it. Nevertheless, such bodies do not eliminate the possibility of health or wellbeing. How is health performed through non-normative (atypical) bodies? How do disabled bodies reformulate the model of the healthy, ideal body? What does illness reveal about the body and the associated meanings? What are the popular media, artistic and cinematic representations of regular, disabled or non-normative bodies? Finally, what is the place of the body in the construction of individual identity?
The project invites artists, social scientists, performers, writers, health professionals, fitness and wellness practitioners, manufacturers, pharmaceutical representatives, grassroots representatives, educators, academics, and all those interested in health and the body to come together and explore these questions and many others, engage in lively discussions to enhance their current understanding and exchange ideas across disciplines and fields of practice.
We welcome papers, visual and audio presentations, works-of-art, and panels which address the subject of the healthy body and its various practices, techniques and associated values, cultural and media representations, and the body and individual identity. Presentation proposals may include (but are not limited to) the following themes:
Shaping the healthy body
Health and lifestyle
Food and the healthy body
Healthy mind for a healthy body: meditation, yoga and other esoteric and spiritual practices
Technology and health: the quantified body
Body enhancement and modification in the name of health
Performing health through cosmetic body practices
Body image and the healthy body
Beauty standards and the healthy body
Representations of the healthy body
Art and the healthy, abled body
The healthy body in literature
Media representations of the healthy body through time
Celebrity bodies = healthy bodies?
Changing medical representations of the healthy body
Historical representations of health and the body
Narratives of the healthy body
Society, culture and changing models of health
Normalizing and controlling the body through medicalized health standards
Western models of the healthy body
Cross-cultural norms and representations of the healthy body
Cultural practices and beliefs about the healthy body; Popular knowledge about achieving and maintaining health
Ethnicity, race and the healthy body
Gender and the healthy body
Age and the healthy body
Individualization and the creation of the healthy body
The healthy body as social status symbol
Public policy and the healthy body
Non-normative, disabled and unhealthy bodies
Challenging a society’s body norms and models through bodily diversity
Non-normative bodies and the performance of health
Health in a disabled body
Illness and the uncontrollable body
Non-normative, unhealthy and disabled bodies and the failure of self-regulation
Body politics and technologies of the self
Health related representations of non-normative bodies
Self, identity and the healthy body
Personal stories of attaining/maintaining the healthy body
The body as self-project
What to Submit:
Up to 400 word abstract.
Submission Deadline:
May 31, 2017
Where to Submit:
In the subject line, please place the word ABSTRACT and email your abstract as an attachment (.doc, or .docx only) to healthybody2017@international-interface.com.
Peer Review Process:
All abstracts submitted are double-blind peer reviewed using the following method. Office personnel responsible for opening email will open your attached abstract, recording your abstract title, your name, and your contact information in a password-protected spreadsheet. Your abstract will be assigned a review number. The review number has no bearing on the review process other than for the purpose of identification of your paper after the double-blind peer review process is completed. The abstract document you submitted will then have your name, and any identifying information (address, email address, work address, etc.) removed from the document. The original document is then added to a password-protected folder accessible only by office personnel and the conference moderator. The conference moderator will notify all members of the review team of the availability to review your abstract. The abstract is then emailed to the first two sub-committee members to respond. The reviewers will have seven days to review the abstract and submit a completed abstract review form, via email, to the moderator. The moderator will then notify you of the findings of the reviewers via email (sent from the same email address you used to submit the abstract), either inviting your participation, or if rejected, you will be given a copy of the review form for your records. There are two types of abstract rejections: The first is a hard reject in which no further submission attempts may be made for this conference. The second type is a soft reject in which the abstract submitter is invited to revise the abstract and resubmit. Specific instructions will be given to you if a soft reject reply is given. All resubmissions are considered by two new reviewers using the same double-blind peer review process. The new reviewers will be made aware that it is a resubmission, but the abstract’s first review will not be forwarded to the new reviewers, making this new review independent of the former review. If rejected a second time, no revised abstract will be accepted.
Multiple Delegates / Authors of One Abstract:
Each abstract is considered independently, however, if there is more than one delegate listed on the abstract as contact or author, team fees will apply if the abstract is accepted. Only one presentation per team is allowed, however, up to five team members may participate in the presentation from different locations.
Submitting More than One Abstract for Consideration:
You may submit up to three abstracts. Each abstract is considered independently and is considered an independent request to make a presentation at the conference. If more than one abstract is accepted, fees for each will be billed, however, a 40% discount will be applied to all abstracts billed after the first accepted abstract which is billed at 100%.
The Reservation Process:
If your abstract is accepted for presentation at the conference, the email you receive will contain a link to a form that must be completed. All applicants are required to complete the form and return it via email by the deadline (stated below).
Application Deadline:
Applications and payments are due no later than June 30, 2017.
Payment Process:
International Interface will email an invoice along with the findings of the reviewers if your abstract is invited to participate. Invoices are required to be paid online using our secure payment gateway.
Payment Amounts and Deadlines:
Single Authored Abstract: $99 if paid by April 5, 2017 – After April 5, 2017 - $149
Single Authored 2 Abstracts: $158.40 if paid by April 5, 2017 – After April 5, 2017 - $238.40
Single Authored 3 Abstracts: $217.80 if paid by April 5, 2017 – After April 5, 2017 - $327.80
Team Authored Abstract: $149 if paid by April 30, 2017 – After April 30, 2017 - $199
Team Authored 2 Abstracts: $238.40 if paid by April 30, 2017 – After April 30, 2017 - $318.40
Team Authored 3 Abstracts: $327.80 if paid by April 30, 2017 – After April 30, 2017 - $437.80
Sit In Reservation: $69 if paid by April 5, 2017 – After April 5, 2017 - $99
*No abstract submissions will be considered after the Submission Deadline of May 31, 2017 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time – US. All payments must be made no later than June 30, 2017 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time – US.
From Abstract to Presentation: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step One: Submit your abstract of no more than 400 words to the email address given in the Call for Presentations (CFP). During this step, your abstract will be double-blind peer reviewed. Your Abstract must arrive no later than May 15, 2017 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time – US.
Step Two: Open the email containing your abstract status and respond accordingly. If your abstract is accepted and you are invited to attend the conference, please move on to step three. If your abstract is hard rejected, please consider International Interface for future collaboration. If your abstract is soft rejected and you would like to be reconsidered, please use the reviewer’s comments to revise your abstract and resubmit using the instructions provided in your email.
Step Three: Complete the reservation form using the link received in your acceptance email. Review the payment table (earlier=savings) and make the payment by the deadline stated in the table and as outlined above.
Step Four: You may submit your full paper by no later than August 15, 2017. This is an optional step.
Step Five: Using your official invitation email which will arrive only after the reservation form and payment is completed, log on to the virtual conference on September 8 and September 9, 2017.
Presentation Time:
Each delegate that makes a presentation has 30 minutes to complete their presentation. Once completed, the discussion period begins. Twenty minutes will be allowed for discussion. There will be a ten minute break between presentations. Presentation times are subject to change depending upon the number of delegates. If presentation time is shortened, we will notify you via email regarding this change.
Information on Conference Proceedings and Publishing:
After the conference ends, conference proceedings will be published in .PDF format and made available to everyone at no charge. These conference proceedings publications are not peer reviewed, however, the abstract was peer-reviewed. There inside cover pages of conference proceedings publications contain a statement of review, reflecting this information. All other printed materials (series, readers, journals, etc.) are peer-reviewed before publishing, by the publications editor, or an editorial team. More information on publishing will be provided to all participants as the conference begins. Please visit the Publishing page for further information.
Technical Requirements:
International Interface will host your virtual conference. There is no software or app to download; all you need is the link to the conference which you will receive in an email when both the reservation form and payment has been received. To make a presentation, you must have a webcam (or camera on a phone or tablet). Participation via telephone is available at no extra charge except for any long distance fees that your telephone service provider may charge to you. International Interface will not make provisions for equipment and all participants must provide their own equipment in order to participate. International Interface will not be responsible for any additional service charges that your Internet Service Provider or telephone service provider charges and any fees that the delegate may incur for those services are the sole responsibility of the delegate.
You only need to have a reliable internet connection, a microphone and speakers or headset to participate. You may participate from any location that provides these services (café, library, etc.).
Prepare to log in at least 15 to 20 minutes before the scheduled start time to iron out any technical issues you may have.
Cancellations and Refunds:
Cancellations must be received in writing via email sent to cancel@international-interface.org. You must give us the title of the conference, your full name and contact information, the title of your presentation, and the reason for your cancellation. All cancellations will incur a 25% service fee. Cancellations received before 11:59 pm on April 15, 2017 will receive a full refund of the remaining 75% of paid reservation fee. Cancellations received between April 16, 2017 and April 30, 2017 will receive a 50% refund of remaining fees paid. Cancellations received between May 1, 2017 and May 31, 2017 will receive a 25% refund of remaining fees paid. No cancellations will be refunded from June 1, 2017 forward.