CFP: Disability History (25-27 June 2010, Preston UK)

News from the disability history community, found on H-Disability today:

Disability History Conference 2010

Disability History: looking forward to a better past?
June 25th - 27th, 2010

University of Central Lancashire
Preston, UK

Plenary Speakers:
Professor Catherine J Kudlick, University of California, Davis
Professor Tom Shakespeare, University of Newcastle

Disability history has emerged in recent years as an increasingly
popular sub-discipline of historical research, covering social,
cultural, medical, practical, gendered, technological and linguistic
aspects of the lives of those seen by society as having ‘disabled’
bodies and minds. The Disability History Group are pleased to announce
their latest conference. ‘Disability History: looking forward to a
better past?’ which promotes the DHG’s goal to advance research into
the history of disability. It is hoped the conference will broaden the
scope of disability history and deliver fresh and dynamic perspectives
on the way disability has been used to legitimate and understand norms,
social relations, inequality, and oppression. This includes historical
research into individuals, groups and institutions, as well as
representations/constructions and perspectives on disability.

The overarching theme of this conference is ‘Where are we, how did we
get here and where are we going next?’. To this end, the conference is
dedicated to an evaluation of all aspects of disability history at
regional, national and international levels. In ‘looking forward to a
better past’, the DHG hopes to encourage lively and informed debate on
the current state of disability history; how the discipline has emerged
and arrived at this point; and where scholars working in the discipline
will go in the future. However, paper topics are not prescriptive - we
invite potential speakers to consider the ways that their current
research has emerged and its context within the sub-discipline of
disability history.

The DHG invites panel or individual contributions from scholars and
postgraduates working in this field, and is keen to consider papers on a
wide range of topics. Papers covering all aspects of disability history,
as well as papers on the historical and future development of disability
history, are welcomed.

Abstracts of 250 words should be sent to Dr Martin Atherton:
matherton1@uclan.ac.uk by March 31, 2010.