Workshop: Protestant Missionaries and Clinical Medicine, 1600–1950
The Centre for Global Histories of Medicine, Disease and Health at Durham University is organising an international online workshop dedicated to Protestant Missionaries and Clinical Medicine, 1600–1950, taking place on Friday, 19 March 2027. This gathering shifts analytical attention directly onto missionary clinicians, examining their clinical encounters, theological and medical formation, and therapeutic relationships across four centuries.
Workshop Theme and Historiographical Focus#
Histories of medical missions frequently concentrate on overarching administrative structures, including missionary societies, imperial health policies, and institutional hospital networks. This workshop departs from traditional institutional frameworks to interrogate the lived experience and professional identities of missionary clinicians themselves.
Key questions explored by the workshop include:
- Theological and Medical Formation: How did practitioners reconcile scientific, clinical, and medical training with religious vocation and theological doctrine?
- Motivations and Identity: What drove medical missionaries to enter cross-cultural clinical environments, and how were their professional identities negotiated?
- Clinical Relationships and Patient Encounters: In what ways did spiritual convictions influence bedside practice, diagnosis, and care—and conversely, how did encounters with patients across diverse religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds reshape clinicians’ beliefs and methods?
This inquiry aligns with broader scholarly investigations into nursing, hospital care, and missionary healthcare networks worldwide. Researchers interested in related historiographical scholarship can explore recent monographs and articles in the EAHN publications directory .
Call for Papers and Submission Guidelines#
Proposals are invited for 20-minute presentations that address the aforementioned themes between the seventeenth and mid-twentieth centuries.
- Abstract Length: Maximum 250 words
- Format: Include paper title, abstract, author affiliation, and a short biographical statement
- Submission Email: Send abstracts directly to Emmy Östburg at emmy.o.ostberg@durham.ac.uk
- Submission Deadline: 15 November 2026
- Notification of Acceptance: 15 December 2026
Inquiries and Event Scope#
Informal inquiries regarding the scope of the workshop or proposed paper topics may be addressed to Professor Matthew Daniel Eddy via email at m.d.eddy@durham.ac.uk .
For additional conferences, symposiums, and calls for papers across European and global healthcare history, please visit the EAHN events calendar .