Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology Project

The Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology Project was an International Exchange Award funded by the Wellcome Trust from April 2022 to October 2024, during which time project members established an international network, funded and organised events around the theme of phenomenological psychopathology, and produced a number of research outputs in the field. This blog is a means of recording and archiving the activities of the project which we hope that other researchers might find valuable despite the funding period having now ended. Phenomenological psychopathology is a method of studying and understanding experiences of mental ill health that centres the lived experience of patients and service users. It's origin is commonly associated with psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), but it developed into it's more recognisable form through Jaspers' successors, Minkowski and Binswanger, as a way of trying to describe the structures of mental disorder experien...

 Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology Project Launch, 14th October 2022 Through this launch event, we invited critical reflection on the theme of renewing phenomenological psychopathology. The Launch Event introduced the award, kicked-off initial engagement with academic stakeholders in order to frame research questions and plans for the next two years. Thanks to the generous support of Wellcome, the Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology project was formally launched at the University of Birmingham and via Zoom on the 14th of October 2022. This was a one-day hybrid event, with online and in-person panels running simultaneously. In total we had fifteen excellent speakers from multiple backgrounds and of all career stages. We had around fifty in person attendees and over 100 online attendees.  Following introductions from the project team, our launch event was kicked off by our first keynote speaker Dr Robert Chapman from Sheffield Hallam University, with their talk ent...

Interdisciplinary Expansion Sandpit Event: Delusions at the Intersection Organisers: Rosa Ritunnano and Jeanette Littlemore from University of Birmingham; Anke Maatz and Julian Hofman from University of Zürich Presenters at the "Delusions at the Intersection" Interdisciplinary Expansion Sandpit Event The workshop took place at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, the formerly so-called “Burghölzli”, and directly linked to the work of one of his first directors, Eugen Bleuler (1998-1927): Bleuler is best known for his introduction of "schizophrenia" which marks a turn to psychopathology in the history of psychiatric nosology. Whilst delusions play only a subordinate role on his account of "schizophrenia", Bleuler's work served this workshop as inspiration for an approach that is marked by methodological pluralism and, importantly, allows a place for personal experience. Honouring his legacy, researchers and lived experience experts from a varie...

Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology Closing Event, 1st March 2024 On the 1st of March 2024, we celebrated two years of extending and renewing phenomenological psychopathology, with a closing event in Florence. Co-hosted between the University of Birmingham and the University of Florence, the closing event brought scholars from across disciplines to share critical reflections, recent work on, and future plans for phenomenological psychopathology research.  The event commenced with a welcome address by Professor Valdo Ricca (University of Florence), who set the scene for the importance of phenomenological psychopathology and the interdisciplinary work between philosophy and psychiatry, amongst other academic disciplines. This was followed by Lucienne Spencer (University of Oxford), who offered a critique of phenomenological reduction, advocating for more inclusivity in phenomenological psychopathology by employing an intersectional approach. The first keynote was delivered by G...

 Throughout the tenure of the project, a number of events were supported by the grant. We have detailed here a list of all the events supported, including links to further information and reports from the event itself: From the closing event for the RPP Project held at the University of Florence in March 2024 2022 The Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology Project Launch Organisers: Matthew Broome, Lucienne Spencer and Roxana Baiasu 14th October 2022, University of Birmingham and online 2023 Madpeople's Coping Mechanisms Organisers: Sofia Jeppsson & Paul Lodge  September 25-26th 2023, Faculty of Philosophy, Radcliffe Humanities, University of Oxford Camouflaging: Philosophical and Clinical Perspectives Organisers: Valentina Petrolini and Philipp Schmidt September 28-29th 2023,Online 2024 Delusions at the Intersection (Interdisciplinary Expansion Sandpit Event) Organisers: Rosa Ritunnano and Jeanette Littlemore from University of Birmingham; Anke Maatz and Julian Hofman ...