The 3rd Cascadia Seminar: Ethnographic Adventures in Medical Anthropology, April 24-26, 2015

April 24-26, 2015
at Seattle University and the University of Washington
Seattle, Washington, USA
Plans are underway for the 3rd Cascadia Seminar!  The Cascadia Seminar is a small, intimate, high-interest, low-cost weekend conference organized collaboratively by medical anthropologists on faculty at a number of different universities and colleges in the US Pacific Northwest and British Columbia (the Cascadia region), rotating among our various institutions. Previous Cascadia Seminars (at the University of Washington in 2011, and at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver BC in 2013) have proven this model to be successful in creating a new kind of intellectual space for medical anthropology.
Harriet Phinney of Seattle University is hosting the 3rd Cascadia Seminar, with assistance from Janelle Taylor of the University of Washington. Medical anthropologists (from everywhere) are invited to submit abstracts. Please send your abstract (350 words maximum) by November 5th, as an electronic attachment to cascadiaseminar@gmail.com. Abstracts will be reviewed by a committee of medical anthropologists on faculty at our various institutions, all of whom also plan to attend. The committee will select seven abstracts, seeking papers that promise to be ethnographically rich and intellectually exciting.  Decisions will be announced by December 20th.
 The Cascadia Seminar will begin the evening of Friday April 24th with a keynote address at the University of Washington by Mette Nordahl Svendsen (University of Copenhagen). The rest of the weekend conference will be held at Seattle University. Four papers will be presented on Saturday April 25th, and three on Sunday April 26th, with no concurrent sessions. Each paper presenter will have forty-five minutes to present a substantial, well worked-out paper, with ample time for lively discussion. All participants will attend all papers, and optional no-host meals together will offer additional opportunities for conversation. The Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington will sponsor a reception following the keynote address, and Seattle University will sponsor coffee and snacks during the weekend sessions. The organizers gratefully acknowledge additional support from UW Seattle’s Department of Anthropology, the Program in Comparative History of Ideas, the Program on Values of the Department of Philosophy, and the UW Bothell’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. 
The conference will be free of charge, though preregistration will be required in order to keep numbers manageable. Some people may want to stay with family or friends in the Seattle area; a block of rooms will also be available at a reduced rate at a nearby hotel.
We look forward to a stimulating & fun weekend!
Review Committee: 
Kirsten Bell (U of British Columbia)
Leslie Butt (U Victoria)
Johanna Crane (UW-Bothell)
James Pfeiffer (UW-Seattle)
Nicole Berry (Simon Fraser U)

 
Host / Organizer:
Harriet Phinney (Seattle University), with assistance from Janelle S. Taylor (University of Washington)