Welcome
Welcome to the UK and to Royal Holloway College, Egham. 'International Perspectives in the History of Nursing' is one of the largest international conferences ever held in the discipline of Nursing History, and has a wide global reach.
The event is hosted by the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, Kingston University. St. George's University of London, and is organised jointly by the American Association for the History of Nursing (AAHN) and the European Nursing History Group (ENHG), a new collaboration consisting of
- the UK Centre for the History of Nursing and Midwifery;
- the Irish Centre for Nursing and Midwifery History;
- Kingston University. St. George's University of London; and
- the Royal College of Nursing History and Heritage Committee.
This is the first time that AAHN and ENHG have collaborated in such a large project, and their joint efforts have made the conference a truly ground-breaking event in international collaboration.
Royal Holloway University of London, Egham
We have chosen Royal Holloway University of London as our conference venue. Conveniently
located within 30 minutes train-journey from Central London, and just 10 minutes drive from
Heathrow Airport, the conference venue is a unique blend of the old and the new. Founders
Building, constructed in the late nineteenth century is a splendid and imposing venue for
conference receptions and awards ceremonies, whilst the purpose-built Windsor Building
offers ideal facilities for keynote, plenary and concurrent conference presentations. There
is also a large space in the Windsor Building for the presentation of conference posters
and other visual displays. 'The Hub' is a large and convenient restaurant, where all
conference meals, including the Conference Dinner and Auction will be held.
Introduction to the Conference
To be held in the International Year of the Nurse, and timed to run alongside commemorative events to mark the centenary of the death of Florence Nightingale, the conference aims to showcase innovative and scholarly work by nurse-historians and academics from allied disciplines. The conference will appeal to historians of nursing and medicine, women's historians, critical theorists and intellectual historians.
Scientific Programme
The conference scientific programme will take place over three days, from 14 to 16 September, 2010 and will comprise plenary sessions, concurrent sessions on pre-specified themes, and poster presentations. Guest speakers include Dr Afaf Meleis, Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing; and Mark Bostridge, author of Florence Nightingale: The Woman and her Legend. The scientific programme will be built around five broad conference themes as follows:
- Profession, identity and ideology
- Systems of care and ways of working
- Biography and place
- Military history, power and conflict, and
- Technology and the patient
Preconference workshops on aspects of historical method will be held on 13 September.
The conference programme will also incorporate the annual awards ceremonies, the AAHN's now legendary annual auction of books and memorabilia, and a number of book launches. The conference will be an opportunity for nurses, midwives and other health professionals to come together to celebrate the Year of the Nurse, to examine and review aspects of our shared history and to showcase the growing body of historical scholarship in the field by scholars from around the world. The conference will also be an opportunity for scholars new to the discipline of nursing history to learn something of the methods of historical inquiry.
Centenary Event
There will be an opportunity to sightsee some major London attractions on Monday 13th September before attending a special service at St. Paul's Cathedral to mark the centenary of the death of Florence Nightingale.
Delegates are then invited to a reception at the Florence Nightingale Museum which will recently have re-opened following a major refurbishment.
