The Postcolonial Studies Permanent Section of the Midwest Modern Language Association (MMLA) seeks abstracts in line with this year’s conference’s theme: “Health in/of the Humanities.” We seek scholarly work within the realm of postcolonial studies that intersects with the topics of physical health, mental health, disparities in access and care, communal health, and racial disparities. The following questions are areas of interest for the section:

-How does the power imbalance between the Global North and Global South affect one’s access to and quality of one’s healthcare?

How do these factors impact one’s health outcomes?

-How does race disrupt the availability and/or quality of care?

-What can be done to effect change in the face of inequality?

-What are the bigger issues that gird current paradigms of subalternity?

Other possible topics might include:

• Narratives of health, sickness and/or recovery
• Health subcultures • Disability studies
• Food studies • Religion and health
• Women’s studies and health
• Medical Humanities, Narrative Medicine, Health Humanities
• Health Science
• Writing Representations of Public, Private, and Global Health
• Environmental Health
• Mental/psychological health
• Psychoanalytic approaches to health
• Approaches to health in the Digital Humanities
• Privacy and confidentiality
• Medical technologies
• Health professions/institutions/workplaces

 Please do not feel limited by the above questions and topics, the section welcomes interdisciplinary approaches to all topics that intersect the conference’s theme and postcolonial studies. For consideration, please send a 200–300 word abstract to Jose Intriago Suarez at  jose.intriagosuarez@marquette.edu no later than April 22nd.