Imaginations of the Womb – Uterine Imaginaries

Graduate Student Workshop

 Princeton University, November 20–21, 2025

Organized by Marie-Louise James and Erica Passoni (German Department)

Emerging from the interdisciplinary breadth of the medical humanities, Imaginations of the Womb – Uterine Imaginaries will explore how historical actors have imagined, theorized, and represented the womb across periods, disciplines, and sociocultural contexts. This workshop brings together graduate students from across the humanities to present their work; we invite critical reflection on the symbolic, religious, medical, and cultural-political meanings ascribed to the womb and the womb-like — from ancient cosmologies and early medical treatises to psychoanalytical theories, feminist philosophies, artistic representations, and contemporary scholarly turns. Instead of limiting inquiry to any single tradition, the workshop fosters interdisciplinary dialogue on how the womb shapes and is shaped by broad transcultural and transhistorical understandings of reproduction and embodiment.

The workshop will take place over two days. The first day will feature conference-style panels, with each participant giving a research presentation followed by a Q&A session. The second day will be dedicated to two roundtable discussions, organized around two broad chronological categories: “Premodern” (up to 1750) and “Modern” (from 1750 onward). We invite graduate students to submit proposals for either: (1) a 15-20 minute presentation or (2) a short pre-circulated text for one of the roundtables.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

- the womb in ancient and medieval cosmologies;

- uterine theories in premodern medical texts;

- the womb as site of religious symbolism or spiritual imagination;

- sexuality and the politics of reproductive knowledge;

- the womb in art, literature, music, and visual culture;

- psychoanalysis and the female body;

- the womb in feminist theory and philosophy;

- colonial and postcolonial histories of reproductive medicine;

- queer, trans, and non-binary perspectives on uterine embodiments;

- environmental, ecological, or planetary metaphors of the womb;

- the uterus in contemporary medical discourse and activism.

Room and board will be provided for the duration of the workshop. Participants are responsible for the cost of travel to Princeton, NJ, United States.

To apply for the workshop, please send a short CV (with full name and email address) and an abstract of max. 250-words outlining either your presentation or a roundtable paper proposal by August 15, 2025 to mljames@princeton.edu or epassoni@princeton.edu.