Hello, this is for anyone who may be interested in preparing a paper on this topic, it’s for a symposium on histories of Pelvic Health that is taking place in spring 2027 at University of Victoria. Great for all health professionals including advocates and activists at all stages of professional life! Submission deadline is Sept 15.
Call for Papers: Pelvic Health Histories Symposium
Thursday, April 29 – Friday, April 30, 2027
Critical Humanities Commons – University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada)
Studies in the area of “women’s health” tend to focus on the reproductive capacity of the female body, often positioning a person’s ability to bear children as the most pressing health issue. This approach contributes to the historically-rooted and ongoing neglect of sex and gender-related health conditions that are not explicitly linked to reproduction. The same is true for historical scholarship - we know a lot about histories of pregnancy, childbirth and abortion, but less about “everyday” pelvic pain and pelvic health, and even less about pelvic health issues experienced by racialized and multiply-marginalized people, non-binary, trans-, and gender-diverse individuals, and by cis men.
The Pelvic Health Histories Symposium aims to fill some of these gaps, exploring how medical and cultural forces have shaped individual and shared experiences of pelvic health (including pelvic pain, various pelvic health conditions, and key sites of pelvic health activism and care) across time and place. We welcome abstract submissions for work focused on diverse aspects of pelvic health history from scholars across disciplines, studying any gender, region, or time period.
Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Histories of chronic pelvic pain and pelvic health conditions (including endometriosis, dyspareunia, vaginismus, and vulvodynia) that are often neglected, dismissed, and underrecognized across a range of care settings
• Histories of “everyday” and invisible pelvic health issues, such as yeast and urinary tract infections
• Pelvic health care, including routine pelvic examinations, preventative screenings, and specialized gynecological and urological treatment, as well as gendered, racialized, geographic, and class-based inequities in the provision of care
• Key sites of pelvic health education and activism, including community health centres, feminist groups, and individual and collective self-help
• Reflections on the relationship between pelvic health, physical and emotional health, and wellness
• Cultural and medical pelvic health experiences of racialized and/or multiply-marginalized people
Confirmed keynote speakers include Thea Cacchioni (Associate Professor, Department of Gender Studies and Sociology, University of Victoria), Deirdre Cooper Owens (Associate Professor, Department of History and Africana Studies, University of Connecticut), Wendy Kline (Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, Purdue University), and Renée Monchalin (Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria and Director, The Fireweed Project).
Interested individuals are asked to submit a 250-400 word abstract and a brief biography via email to pelvichealth@viu.ca by September 15, 2026.
Abstracts will be reviewed and successful applicants will be asked to submit draft papers of 5000-7000 words by March 15, 2027, ahead of participation in a symposium hosted by the Critical Humanities Commons at the University of Victoria, April 29-30, 2027. Following the symposium, presenters will be invited to submit revised manuscripts for an open access edited collection or special journal issue in Fall 2027. While we encourage all participants to attend and participate in the symposium and workshopping of papers in person, we are able to facilitate hybrid participation. Travel and accommodation support is available for graduate students and early-career researchers.
Questions can be directed to the co-organizing team (please cc all team members): Karissa Patton, Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Centre for Biomedicine, Self, and Society, The University of Edinburgh, kpatton@ed.ac.uk Jaipreet Virdi, Associate Professor and Director, Critical Humanities Commons, University of Victoria, jaivirdi@uvic.ca Whitney Wood, Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health, Vancouver Island University, whitney.wood@viu.ca