Friday October 24, 2024

This virtual global symposium invites presentations that explore all aspects of pregnancy loss: abortion—elective, forced, spontaneous, and therapeutic—as well as stillbirth, highlighting its complexity and diversity.Pregnancy loss is a complex and contentious issue that is garnering increasing public and political scrutiny. Access to abortion—whether available or restricted—entails numerous personal, medical, legal, and ethical considerations related to reproductive justice, women’s autonomy, health, human rights, feminism, and motherhood. While many states and countries currently impose limitations or bans on elective abortion, topics like forced, spontaneous, therapeutic abortions, and stillbirths also remain largely unspoken in society today. However, literary, cinematic, and artistic expressions surrounding these experiences have proliferated over the past few decades, fostering essential discussions that bridge both the humanities and medical humanities.

How do literature, film, visual art, and social media depict and interrogate the various experiences of pregnancy loss? In what ways does media coverage impact public perception of abortion, miscarriage, and perinatal loss? We welcome contributions that delve into both the practical and theoretical dimensions of these representations, as well as how the humanities connect with the medical field to address human and environmental needs. Interdisciplinary approaches and transnational representations are encouraged.

Scholars interested in participating are invited to submit their proposals in English, including a title, a 200-word abstract, and a brief biography, by July 15, 2025, to Giulia Po DeLisle at giulia_delisle@uml.edu & Laura Lazzari at lazzari.laura@sasso-corbaro.ch.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent to presenters by August 31, 2025.

Participation in this virtual conference is free, and no registration is necessary.

Presentations will be conducted in English.

This global symposium is organized by Dr. Giulia Po DeLisle and Dr. Laura Lazzari in collaboration with:

The Department of World Languages and Cultures at the University of Massachusetts Lowell,

The College of fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell,

The Sasso Corbaro Foundation for the Medical Humanities (Switzerland),

The Medical Humanities Initiative at Georgetown University