Międzynarodowa Konferencja Naukowa „Science and humanities: interdyscyplinarny namysł nad bioetyką”.

The MISH UJ Academic Society and the Student Council of the Interfaculty Individual Studies in the Humanities at the Jagiellonian University cordially invite both active and passive participation in the International Academic Conference Science and Humanities: Interdisciplinary Reflections on Bioethics.

The conference will be held on site on 29–30 May 2026 at Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University.

Call for Papers
Submissions are accepted until 16 April 2026, 11:59 p.m.
Presentations should not exceed 15 minutes.

Submission form: https://forms.gle/kPJ8EfFDXLWWBD3H9
E-mail: internationalconbioethics@gmail.com

Scientific Committee:
– Andrzej Zawadzki, PhD, Professor at Jagiellonian University (Faculty of Polish Studies,)
– Joanna Kapusta, PhD, Professor at Jagiellonian University (Faculty of Biology)
– Olga Dryla, PhD, Professor at Jagiellonian University (Faculty of Philosophy)
– Barbara Kaszowska-Wandor, PhD (Faculty of Polish Studies)
– Piotr Nowak, PhD (Faculty of Philosophy)
– Beata Płonka, PhD (Jagiellonian University Medical College)
– Zbigniew Zalewski, PhD (Jagiellonian University Medical College)

In May 2025, we had the pleasure of organising the academic conference Science and Humanities: Flows and inflows, whose aim was to reflect on the affinities and points of convergence between the humanities and the social sciences. As organisers, we observed that both speakers and audience members showed considerable interest in bioethical issues, including, among others, the problem of palliative care. For this reason, in May of this year we wish to continue the discussions initiated during the conference Science and Humanities: Flows and inflows, while placing questions of bioethics at the centre of our inquiry. Accordingly, we propose the following thematic areas:

Bioethics and Technology
– bioethics and AI
– AI in diagnosis and medical education
– life as a biological, cultural, discursive, and environmental category

Transhumanism, Posthumanism, Biohumanities
– the modification and optimisation of life
– the boundary between therapy and enhancement
– body, technology, and subjectivity
– humans, animals, plants, and ecosystems in bioethical reflection
– biohumanities as an area at the intersection of culture and medicine

Literature and the cultural imaginary
– literary reflection on bioethics
– representations of hybrids, mutants, and technological beings
– biotechnological dilemmas in literature and culture
– biological and medical metaphors and their impact on bioethical decision-making
– the limits of cultural relativism

Feminist and queer approaches to bioethics
– assisted reproductive technologies
– the representation of women in medical research
– neglected areas of research on women’s health

Autonomy, Death, Eugenics
– individual freedom and agency
– euthanasia, palliative care, and the right to life and to a dignified death
– the COVID-19 pandemic and the problem of freedom and isolation
– (post)eugenics and the ethical issues of control

Presentations should not exceed 15 minutes.
The working languages of the conference are english and polish. 

In view of the international character of the conference, speakers from outside Poland who are unable to attend the event in person will be able to deliver their papers remotely.

We warmly encourage you to submit presentation proposals. We look forward to receiving them until 16 April 2026.

Organising Committee:
– Anna Rutkowska
– Julia Stankala
– Tola Jamka
– Marcelina Kuc
- Patrycja Wójcik

Graphics: Tomasz Więcek