Respect and Shame in Healthcare and Bioethics Workshop Series

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

The “Respect and Shame in Healthcare and Bioethics” Workshop Series aims to address the following questions:

• How are the concepts of respect, disrespect, shame and humiliation relevant to healthcare and bioethics debates?
• Could deeper conceptual, philosophical and phenomenological understandings of (dis)respect, shame and humiliation help improve the practice of medicine?

Workshop Series Schedule (all sessions take place on Fridays, 2pm – 4.50pm CET)

1 October – Thomas Gutmann, University of Munster – “The Legal Protection of Respect in Healthcare” + ECR presentation

22 October – Vania Smith-Oka, University of Notre Dame – “Microaggressions as Forms of Humiliation and Shame within Medical Encounters in Mexico” + ECR presentation

5 November – Luna Dolezal, University of Exeter – “Shame-Sensitive Practice in Healthcare” + ECR presentation

19 November – Barry Lyons, Children’s Health, Ireland – “Stigma: A Barrier to Mental Healthcare for Healthcare Professionals” + ECR presentation

3 December – Peter Schaber, University of Zurich – “Respect for the Patient’s Wishes” + ECR presentation

17 December – Dan Zahavi, University of Copenhagen – “Shame, Self and Other” + ECR presentation

Format of this Workshop Series

• There will be six workshops in this series.
• Each workshop will take place on a Friday afternoon 2.00pm-4.50pm CET (dates above).
• Each workshop will consist of a presentation from a Confirmed Speaker and a presentation from an Early Career Researcher (ECR) selected via the Call for Participants (see below).
• Both presentations will be followed by questions and discussion, with ECRs receiving tailored feedback.

All presenting ECRs are not expected to attend all the sessions. All registered participants will receive the link to attend each session of their choice.

Workshop Series

The overall goal of the workshop series is to share, analyse and reflect on issues and topics related to respect, disrespect, shame, humiliation and related concepts within healthcare and bioethics, using a multidisciplinary perspective.

Conceptual understanding of the moral concept of ‘respect for persons’ in the context of healthcare and bioethics has gained significance in recent times. While the dominant understanding of ‘respect’ in the context of bioethics has focused on ‘autonomy’, this conception has been critically questioned. However, the moral concept of respect for persons remains unanalysed from a philosophical and phenomenological understanding, and this analysis requires a critical understanding of the nature of respect and disrespect. Across cultures and institutions, the moral code to respect another individual applies while deliberating, negotiating, and interacting with them. One should avoid, or lessen, disrespectful treatment which can lead to experiences such as humiliation, shame and a loss of recognition. Leading bioethical arguments suggest the principle of recognition is significant with regard to understanding the moral concept of ‘respect for persons’ and also in actualizing respect within interactions in various situations. This workshop series aims to critically engage with these moral concepts from multidisciplinary perspectives and frameworks in order to enhance our understanding of both respect and shame, along with their significance for a more optimal delivery of healthcare.

Purpose

• To provide a space for early career scholars and senior scholars from different disciplines to workshop and get feedback on papers related to the conceptual themes of this workshop series.
• To encourage rich discussion around these themes, and ultimately compile workshop contributions into an edited volume or as part of a Special Issue of a peer-reviewed journal.

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

We invite abstracts from Early Career Scholars who would like to present a paper at one of the Workshop sessions (dates and themes above). Presentations will be 20 minutes, followed by 45 minutes of feedback and discussion.

Please send abstracts (500-1000 words) indicating your preferred workshop date/theme to supriya.subramani@ibme.uzh.ch by 5pm June 1^st 2021, with ‘Submission to Respect and Shame in Healthcare and Bioethics Workshop’ in the subject line. 

In preparing your abstract, please pay close attention to the overall workshop description and the individual workshop theme for which you are applying. You will be notified of our decision no later than 25^th of June 2021 and the full paper needs to be submitted by end of August 15^th 2021.

Please direct any questions regarding the workshop series to Supriya Subramani: supriya.subramani@ibme.uzh.ch

Organizers:

Supriya Subramani – Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich

Luna Dolezal, Associate Professor in Philosophy and Medical Humanities, University of Exeter