Skip to main content

Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology Closing Event, 1st March 2024

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 Giovanni Castellini (University of Florence), titled ‘Lived corporeality in persons with eating disorder and gender dysphoria’. 

Our first panel session included Rosa Ritunnano (University of Birmingham and University of Melbourne), Anthony Vincent Fernandez (Southern Denmark University), and Anna Bortolan (University of Swansea). Rosa’s presentation addressed the importance of taking the person seriously in psychopathology, by focussing on the constitutive elements of human existence, including affectivity, selfhood, and empathy. Anthony focussed addressed the need for greater interdisciplinary work within phenomenological psychopathology, looking at new directions within the field, as well as drawing upon other disciplines, including anthropology and the incorporation of empirical methods. By drawing on more interdisciplinarity, the prospect of more critical and contextually sensitive research can be realised. Anna closed the first panel session, exploring the impact of social and digital media use on self-identity. She highlighted the benefits to be gained for phenomenological psychopathology by considering the diversity of self-experience mediated by social media. 
  
Lunch and networking amongst colleagues took place in the beautiful surrounds of the Montedomini Foligno venue in the centre of Florence, and it was wonderful to see the establishment of networks and overhear discussions about the future of phenomenological psychopathology.     

Our second panel session included Cecilia Maria Esposito (University of Pavia), Jasper Fayaerts (University of Ghent), and Guillerme Messas (Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Science). Cecilia addressed the concept of ‘hysteria’ from a phenomenological perspective, considering its existential position—one that is defeminized and desexualized. Jasper presented on the challenges, and offered new perspectives, on the self-disturbance model of schizophrenia. Guillerme considered the ‘interrupted phenomenological project’, suggesting a renewed focus on the dialectical stream of phenomenology in psychiatry. 

The event was brought to a close by the two PI’s for the project, Matthew Broome (University of Birmingham) and Giovanni Stanghellini (University of Florence). Matthew’s talk, titled ‘Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology: Perpetual Beginnings as a Path to the Future’. Matthew highlighted the work that has resulted from the RPP grant, discussed the themes of the project, and proposed ideas and future plans for the field. Giovanni brought the event to a close with his talk focussing on ‘The psychiatrist as ragpicker: The dialectics between the fragment and the whole in mental health care’. In his talk, Giovanni spoke to three themes: (i) images associated with fragmentation in psychopathology, (ii) structural and narrative psychopathologies, and (iii) a type of fragment-oriented listening; all of which lead to a discussion of the psychiatrist who weaves together multi-various threads within the phenomenological endeavour. 

The team were thrilled with the fantastic attendance for the event, and the wonderful teams that came together to ensure its success. We are so grateful to all our brilliant speakers (most of whom feature in the photograph below), and the tech-support, catering, and venue teams—all of whom were a pleasure to work with. Lastly, we extend a warm and hearty thank you to all those that attended.

From L to R: Andrew Maile, Anthony Fernandez, Rosa Ritunnano, Lucienne Spencer, Matthew Broome, Giovanni Stanghellini, Cecilia Esposito, Guilherme Messas, Jasper Feyaerts. Other speakers not included in the photograph: Anna Bortolan, Giovanni Castellini, Valdo Ricca. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What we've supported: International Exchange Fellowship

International Exchange Fellowship This fellowship allowed an individual to travel to sites across our network in order to undertake a placement for up to two months. This funding was for academics in the field of phenomenological psychopathology or allied fields, who wanted to develop collaborations with leading researchers, transform their careers and shape the direction of future research. International Exchange Fellows had the opportunity to work with international colleagues, gain vital experience in multi-/inter-disciplinary working and extend their international networks. We provided a £3000 stipend per International Exchange (IE) Fellow to cover travel, accommodation and any visa costs.  While we encouraged applicants to consider choosing one of the existing Network members, applicants were welcome to nominate an alternative suitable institution if there was interest in becoming a member of our Network. Applicants were required to submit: • A letter from the proposed host ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The RPP Network

A core goal of the project was to establish an international network of academics in the area of phenomenological psychopathology. Applicants for RPP funded awards could then apply to specific sites that were part of this network, as potential host institutions for Knowledge Exchange Fellowships, events, research groups, mentoring schemes or other project related activities. These activities led, for example, to the production of academic outputs such as papers, publications, translations or major grant applications.  Network members include: 1.    Orygen , Melbourne, Australia  (Contact: Professor Barnaby Nelson ) 2.   Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, Brazil (Contact: Professor Guilherme Messas , Head of the Postgraduate Program on Phenomenological Psychopathology) 3.   Centre for Health, Humanities and Science; and the Department of Philosophy, Bristol University, U.K.  (Contact: Professor Havi Carel ) 4.   Depa...
Post a Comment
Read more

What we've supported: Small Grants and Writing Retreats

 Small Grants and Writing Retreats The Small Grant Award was available until April 2023.  It offered seed-corn funding that allowed a team of scholars, across disciplines and countries, to form around a particular research topic and to develop new work that integrated different disciplines and accounts of lived experience of mental disorder. The aim was to enable a group of, for example, researchers, clinicians, academics in the humanities and experts by experience to pursue substantial competitive research leading to publication and/or work towards major grant applications. Two Small Research Grants of £10,000 each were available, and two Virtual Writing Retreats supported by the Project Team.   For example, the Small Grant could cover a six-month small scale project of an interdisciplinary, international Group, the running of which requires a part-time Research Assistant who could, for instance, offer support for short-term data collection or for the undertaking of...
Post a Comment
Read more