IRISH HUMANITIES ALLIANCE CONFERENCE 2026
Un/silencing
Healthcare
Un/Silencing Healthcare brings together scholars, clinicians, artists, and communities to explore how power, voice, and representation shape healthcare knowledge and practice.
College St Campus,
Waterford City
X91 AK3T
3rd - 4th September 2026 09:00 - 15:00
About the Event
The 2026 IHA annual conference is a two-day interdisciplinary conference on the theme of Un/Silencing Healthcare: Voices, Power and Imagination, hosted at South East Technological University (SETU) College St Campus, Waterford
About
Learn more about the conference
The conference explores how voices, bodies, and practices are heard, silenced, or transformed within healthcare. At a time of rapid technological change, growing distrust in institutions, and growing awareness of systemic inequality, the medical and health humanities play a vital role in amplifying diverse perspectives and reimagining care.
Bringing together scholars, practitioners, artists, clinicians, and service users, the programme explores five key themes: Voice, Power & Representation, Disobedient Ethics, Cripping, Queering & Deconstructing, Technology, AI & the Human, and Radical Imagination & Interruption. Through keynote lectures, research presentations, creative works, performances, and postgraduate events, the conference encourages new perspectives on healthcare, inclusion, ethics, and innovation while fostering collaboration across disciplines.
Hosted by the Irish Humanities Alliance in partnership with South East Technological University (SETU), the conference is committed to providing an accessible and welcoming experience for all participants.
Featured Speakers
Take a look at the keynote speakers
Across both keynotes, themes of voice, power, and access run strongly, from co-produced disability research and creative methodologies that open up new ways of working, to critical reflections on health systems, inequality, and the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary social challenges. Together, these talks invite audiences to rethink how research is done, who it is for, and how it can better reflect the complexity of the worlds we live in..
Featured Speakers
Take a look at the keynote speakers
Across both keynotes, themes of voice, power, and access run strongly, from co-produced disability research and creative methodologies that open up new ways of working, to critical reflections on health systems, inequality, and the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary social challenges. Together, these talks invite audiences to rethink how research is done, who it is for, and how it can better reflect the complexity of the worlds we live in.
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Postgrad
Academic Publishing Workshop for Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers
- What gets published?
- What a journal article is not.
- Common reasons for papers being rejected
- Main reason why papers are rejected
- Turning a thesis into a publication(s)
Call for abstracts
Submission Guidelines and Thematic Streams
**Please Note Abstract submissions are now CLOSED.
We invite contributors to submit abstracts engaging with the thematic streams outlined below, as well as work that extends beyond these areas. Submissions should include an abstract of up to 300 words and a short biography of up to 75 words, provided as a single document.
- Voice, Power, Representation: Testimony, narrative, and silence in healthcare
- Disobedient Ethics: Context, care and accountability beyond compliance
- Cripping, Queering, Deconstructing: Disrupting dominant norms and reimagining inclusion
- Technology, AI & the Human: Bias, consent, and personhood
- Radical Imagination & Interruption: Speculative, creative, and entangled futures
Where diverse perspectives inform future thinking.
Agenda
Session times, locations and schedule
Day 1 – Thursday, 3 September, 2026.
| Time | Session | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 09:30 – 10:30 |
Waterford Memories Project campus tour
with Dr Jennifer O’ Mahony, SETU
|
College St Chapel |
| 10:30 – 11:30 |
Registration & light breakfast
Postgrad posters and exhibitions on display
|
College St Campus |
| 11:30 – 11:45 |
Welcome & opening remarks
SETU President Prof Veronica Campbell and IHA Chair
|
College St Campus |
| 11:45 – 12:45 |
Keynote Address by Dr Jess Mannion, ATU
‘"We've Opened a Doorway": Researching Together, Voice, Power and the Co-Production of Knowledge’
|
College St Campus |
| 12:50 – 14:00 |
Parallel Sessions 1
The first set of presentations
|
College St Campus |
| 14:05 – 15:15 |
Lunch Break
Catered lunch for all attendees
|
College St Canteen |
| 15:20 – 13:30 |
Parallel Sessions 2
The second set of presentations
|
College St Campus |
| 16:35 – 18:00 |
Creative Plenary by Maeve Bulter, Réalta and Hanna Hollywood Begley, Artist
‘Beyond the Machine: Patient-centered creative engagement in renal dialysis’
|
College St Campus |
| 18:00 – 19:00 |
Free Time
|
College St Campus |
| 19:00 – 19:45 |
Drinks Reception
|
The Tower Hotel, Waterford |
| 19:45 |
Conference dinner
|
The Tower Hotel, Waterford |
Day 2 – Friday, 4 September, 2026.
| Time | Session | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 08:45 – 09:00 |
Day 2 opens
Tea & coffee offered upon arrivial
|
College St Campus |
| 09:00 – 10:00 |
IHA AGM
Tea, coffee & scones available to all attendees
|
TBC |
| 10:05 – 11:05 |
Keynote Address with Prof Des Fitzpatrick, UCC
“What can an Irish medical humanities achieve?”
|
College St Chapel |
| 11:05 – 11:20 |
Break
|
College St Chapel |
| 11:25 – 12:35 |
Parallel Sessions 3
The third set of presentations
|
College St Campus |
| 12:40 – 13:50 |
Parallel Sessions 4
The fourth set of presentations
|
College St Campus |
| 13:50 – 14:35 |
Lunch
Catered lunch for all attendees
|
College St Canteen |
| 14:40 – 15:50 |
Parallel Sessions 5
The fifth set of presentations
|
College St Campus |
| 15:50 – 16:05 |
Break
|
College St Campus |
| 16:05 – 17:15 |
Parallel Sessions 6
The sixth set of presentations
|
College St Campus |
| 19:00 – 19:45 |
Closing remarks
Final words to conclude the conference
|
College St Chapel |
Accommodation
Find the perfect place to stay during your visit.
The IHA conference is partnering with the Tower Hotel for the Drinks Reception and Conference Dinner. We have also arranged a special rate for accommodation with the Tower Hotel (€135 for one night B&B for the conference). Please quote Unsilencing Healthcare conference when making the booking.
Explore Waterford
Make the most of your time in Ireland's oldest city.
Contact
Get in touch
If you have any queries or require further information, please don’t hesitate to contact us using the email address provided below. Our team will be happy to assist with any enquiries.