Karissa Patton (Univ. of Edinburgh), Jaipreet Virdi (Univ. of Victoria) (Web), and Whitney Wood (Vancouver Island Univ.)
Time: 29.-30.04.2027
Venue: Critical Humanities Commons, Univ. of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (Web)
Proposals by: 15.09.2026
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 Continue reading

FeMig.Lab: Female Labour Migration in European History
Netzwerk Zeitgeschichte und Region (ZuR), Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte Hamburg