Call for Papers

The way in which the body, age and gender shape human experiences is one of the most pressing challenges facing contemporary societies. Today, more than ever, there is a need to build fairer, more equitable and sustainable communities, which are in a state of continuous development and adaptation and which face limitations and obstacles. Some of these are long-standing and deeply rooted, whilst others are new and not very well known. A multidisciplinary approach to the cultural and social constructs of the body – and the multiple levels at which it functions as a generator of meaning – is therefore imperative.

The proposed lines of research, both in their contemporary context and in terms of their cultural and historical foundations, fall within the core mission of the Humanities Research Group – Texts, Images and Communities (HUM-TIC). This event fosters free, informed discussion, driven by dialogue across the Humanities.

This is the first International Congress organised by the HUM–TIC Research Group, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Madeira. It is an in-person event, which will take place at the Colégio dos Jesuítas, at the University of Madeira’s Rectorate building in Funchal.

The conference aims to explore one of HUM-TIC’s main thematic areas – Body, Age and Gender – from a dialogical and transdisciplinary perspective. In this context, proposals of a theoretical or empirical nature, including case studies, are welcome across the Humanities. These may include, among others, Art, Communication, Culture, Design, History, Linguistics, Literature, Psychology and Sociology.

Discussion Topics (some suggestions):

• Discourses, narratives and representations of the body, age and gender.
• The body, space and territoriality: real, symbolic and imaginary places.
• Rethinking the Human: AI and representations of the body, age and gender.
• Aesthetics of the body, beauty and ugliness, the monstrous and the abject.
• Building Self and the Other in different cultural contexts.
• Stages of life: representations, experiences and intergenerational relationships.
• Double standards of ageing in a consumer society.
• Embodiment: inner and outer, personal and social, physical and idealised.
• Body and gender: sexuality, emotions, ethics, violence.
• Myths, stereotypes and imagined representations of the body, age and gender.
• Ecologies of the body and environmental humanities.
• Gender-based violence in the digital sphere.
• The manosphere and social media impact.
• Intersectionality and multiple forms of discrimination.
• Gender, natural disasters and climate change.

Abstract Submissions:

- Submission deadline: 15th January, 2027

- Working languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish

- 20-minute Paper/ Panel (up to three papers): Microsoft Forms - Fill in the form

- Notification of acceptance: 15th February, 2027

- Conference email: 1cong.ch2027@mail.uma.pt

Registration Fees:

− Registration fee: €80

− MA and PhD. student registration fee: €40

− UMa lecturers and researchers registration fee: €40

− Non-speaking participants (with certificate of attendance): €10

Registration Deadlines: - Speaking participants: 30th April, 2027 - Non-speaking participants: 18th June, 2027

Location:

Colégio dos Jesuítas

Reitoria da Universidade da Madeira

Rua dos Ferreiros, 9000-082 Funchal

Madeira, Portugal

Publication:

Selected papers will be published in a peer-reviewed volume. Details on deadlines, guidelines, and reviewing process will follow

Organising Committee

Cristina Santos Pinheiro

Inês Tadeu

Jane Spínola Diogo

Rui Carlos Fonseca

Luís Pimenta Lopes

Paulo Nascimento

Congress Support Assistant

Valéria Paixão (coord.)

Scientific Committee

Ana Isabel Martín Ferreira, University of Valladolid

Elena Bollinger, University of Madeira

Gregorio Rodríguez Herrera, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Henrique Pereira, University of Beira Interior

Joaquim Pinheiro, University of Madeira

Jorge Gato, University of Oporto

Julia Nitz, University of Martin Luther Halle-Wittenberg

Margarida Esteves Pereira, University of Minho

Maria Luísa Malato, University of Oporto

Mario Franco Barros, University of Madeira

Paulo Simões Rodrigues, University of Évora

Samuel Mateus, University of Madeira

Telmo Reis, University of Madeira

Keynote Speakers

Orla Murphy, University College Cork

Paula Morão, University of Lisbon

To view or download the Call for Papers (in PDF format), click HERE