The Reevaluating Care in the Global Economy Humanities Working Group at the University of South Carolina invites proposals for an interdisciplinary workshop, “Contours of Pain,” to be held at the University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) on February 18 and 19, 2027.

Elaine Scarry remarked in The Body in Pain (1985) that pain has three different subjects: difficulty of expressing pain, the political and perceptual challenges that are connected to a lack of language to describe pain, and the nature of human creation. Since her landmark book, humanistic research on pain has expanded to include explorations into the physical embodiment of pain (Ahmed, 2004), and to consider the role that institutions, structures, emotions, culture, and spirituality have in understanding and determining the role of pain in the human experience. Lucy Bending (2000) also reminds us that pain cannot be studied in isolation, but is experienced and communicated differently by everyone, opening discussions of pain to consider intersectionality, cultural context, and the experiences of marginalized human and non-human animals.

The workshop aims to foster critical reflection on pain scholarship and interdisciplinary collaboration. There will be multiple workshop sessions running simultaneously organized around themes in common. Sessions will include two participants and at least one commentator. All participants will be expected to circulate complete paper drafts (ca. 6,000-8,000 words) several weeks ahead of the workshop.

Scholars whose work broadly intersects with critical reflections on pain are encouraged to apply.

Topics might include but are not limited to:

• Pain as subjective and interconnected with context
• Pain as agentive or even empowering
• The gendered aspects of pain; how pain is experienced and socially accepted between genders within medical, legal, or mental health institutions
• Pain and labor; gendered labor and the division of such labor; physically intense jobs and implications for health
• Pain and economic insecurity; homelessness, poverty, food insecurity.
• Pain and dependent care; childcare, eldercare, end of life care, disability.
• Pain and trauma
• Pain and emotions such as fear or shame, anxiety
• Embodied realities of pain
• The knowability and expressibility of pain
• Collectivity vs. isolation
• Pain and physical space/place
• Cultural and artistic representations of pain
• Pain narratives
• Pain and secrecy/visibility/exposure
• “Good pain” (morally/socially acceptable) and “bad pain”
• Pain relief and alleviation
• How pain intersects with social networks and institutions
• Pain and non-human animals and plants
• Ecological and environmental intersections between human and non-human animals. For example, pain after natural disasters, or environmental catastrophes

Submissions:

All workshop proposals should include a title, an abstract of 250-300 words, a brief biographical note (up to 100 words), name, email, position, and university.

Please submit your workshop proposals by October 26, 2026 to the three organizers’ emails: Drs. Alexandria Herrera, ah290@mailbox.sc.edu; Thomas Lekan, LEKAN@mailbox.sc.edu; Cara Delay, CDELAY@mailbox.sc.edu.

We encourage submissions from scholars at all stages of their careers, but we are particularly interested in supporting and encouraging scholarship from early career researchers, independent scholars, practitioners, and graduate students. Interdisciplinary approaches and innovative methodologies are welcome. 

Travel Awards:

We have a small budget to aid scholars in offsetting costs associated with traveling and accommodations to Columbia, SC for the workshop period. All scholars are welcome to apply; however, priority will be given to graduate students, early careers, and independent scholars and practitioners that live outside the state of South Carolina. To be considered for a travel award, submit a 250-300-word maximum explanation of the need for the travel award and how participating in the workshop will support your current and future scholarship with your workshop proposal.

Scholarship that is accepted for the workshop will be considered by the workshop organizers for a special issue for the peer reviewed journal Care in Common (https://revaluingcare.org/care-in-common/).

“The journal welcomes submissions for works in progress for research papers and journal articles, between 8,000 and 10,000 words. On an individual basis, the editors will also consider submissions for creative works (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, visual art, photography, graphic work, and experimental forms) or works from practitioners such as workers and their unions and organizations, community organizers, policy advocates, healthcare professionals, social workers, educators, parents and family caregivers, disability activists, and others working at the frontlines of care.”