This interdisciplinary symposium on Gender, Race and Medicine will take place at UBC Okanagan on December 3 and 4, 2021. Current and former students of the course “Gender, Race and Medicine: The Construction of the Hysteric” will participate in a series of panels that consider the entanglement of medicine, science, culture, and power as well as the shifting definitions, diagnoses, treatments and representation of ‘hysteria’ over time.
Two keynote speakers, Dr. Maddalena Canna (Northwestern University, Department of Anthropology) will reflect on her research and work and engage in a discussion with the audience and conference participants.
The conference is open to the public. All presentations will take place in ART219 and will also be accessible via Zoom.
Conference Schedule
Friday, December 3rd | 11:30 am – 5:15 pm (ART219)
11:30 – Introductory Remarks
- 11:45- 1:00 – Panel 1: Gender and Hysteria in Literature (Chair: Cameron Crookston)
- Kyla Morris, “Medical Mythologies and Hysterical Documents: Theorizing Hysterical Bodies as Space in Angela Carter’s “The Lady of the House of Love”
- Emily McNutt, “Creation of Mass Hysteria within Lord of the Flies”
- Joseph Veltri, “Hysteria in The Crucible and the U.S.A.”
- 1:00 – 2:00 Lunch
- 2:00 – 3:30 – Panel 2: Emotion, Excess, and Grief (Chair: David Jefferess)
- Amal Alhomsi, “Crazy in Love: The Hysteria of Qais Ibn Al-mulawwah”
- Karis Dimas-Lehndorf, “Wandavision, Midsommar, and The Babadook: An Exploration of Grief and the ‘Hysterical’ Woman”
- Alison Kloosterman, “Devotional Hysteria: Mourning, Melancholia, and the Mystical”
- 3:30 – 3:45 Break
- 3:45 – 5 :15– Panel 3: Culture, Affect, Intersubjectivity (Chair: Melissa Jacques)
- Jen Ducharme, “The Bakkhai: Cult, Theatre, Mass Hysteria”
- Karleen Rutter, “The Affect of Emotions in Mass Hysteric Episodes: A Theoretical Analysis of The Falling and Post 9/11 America”
- Carrie Terbasket, “The Privilege of Happiness: Exploring the Ideas of Sara Ahmed and Laura Briggs”
Saturday, December 4th | 10 am – 2 pm (ART 219)
- 10:00 – 11:15 – Panel 4: Hysteria and Popular Culture (Chair: Kelly Panchyshyn)
- Brian Kerr-Bassett, “Hystericizing Britney Spears”
- Alex Labarta-Garcia, “Western influences of the “Hysteric” in the construction of “Hwabyung” in Tale of the Nine Tailed”
- Mariza Micallef, “Dancing Mania: A Phenomenon that Transcends the Barrier of Time”
- Melissa Plisic, “Hysteria Christianity Capitalism” (Zine)
- 11:15 – 11:30 Break
- 11:30 – 12:50 – Panel 5: Pathologization and Embodiment (Chair: Matt Rader)
- Jessica Beaudin, “Maddening Pain: Endometriosis, Iatrogenesis and Hysterical Hauntings in Alice Seabright’s End-O” (Paper)
- Sarah Becking, “Hysteria in a Contemporary Context: Emotionality Pathologized” (Video)
- Tatyjania Khounviseth, “Lessons on the Female Body: The Hysterical Woman” (Medical Journal)
- 1:00 pm – Keynote Lecture (via Zoom)
- Dr. Maddalena Canna, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University
This conference is organized by Dr. Maria Olive Alexopoulos, Lecturer in Cultural Studies, and supported by the Department of English and Cultural Studies.