CFP: Phenomenologies of Mental Health, Well-Being, and Flourishing

“Phenomenologies of Mental Health, Well-Being, and Flourishing” Interdisciplinary Conference

September 19-20, 2025, Lehigh University, College of Health

Call for abstracts and proposals

Deadline for proposals: March 15

As we face increased economic pressure, political uncertainty, and unprecedented ecological change alongside rapidly evolving technologies with the potential to reshape the most intimate aspects of human life, it is no surprise that anxiety, depression, malaise, and mental health disorders are on the rise. At the same time, recent years have witnessed a widespread destigmatization of discussions about mental health, with people feeling more comfortable than ever in speaking about diagnoses, therapy, and trauma. Mental health is complex, and fundamental questions about its connections to well-being and flourishing remain underexplored. This creates conceptual and practical confusion. For example, genuine self-care has been conflated with the need to buy into the $10 billion self-care industry.

Facing these problems head-on requires interdisciplinary collaboration. Phenomenology, a tradition that explores the structure of lived experience and individuals’ relations to their social environments, provides an important starting point in this work. Although phenomenology is an approach rooted in philosophy, it is also widely used in other fields, including public health, psychology, data science, neuroscience, sociology, anthropology, and technology studies. Whether theoretical or applied, phenomenology involves careful descriptions of lived experience and a critical rejection of the idea that well-being is a scientifically measurable or objective state.

This conference endeavors to explore mental health and well-being in a contemporary world by engaging with researchers employing phenomenological approaches across disciplines. We endeavor to facilitate the identification of clearer connections between mental health, well-being, and human flourishing, in turn producing strategies and interventions for improving the three. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this conference, we are seeking a variety of submission types. We are interested in presentations that range from philosophical, to practical, to wellness-oriented, to artistic; from conceptual to applied; and from individual to collaborative. 

This conference will take place in-person at Lehigh University, as well as online via livestream. It will include an art installation by Lehigh University students and faculty, as well as an opening reception at the Lehigh Mountaintop Campus. The conference will also involve one or more wellness activities. Presenters will have the option of having their presentations recorded and posted online afterward on YouTube through the Overthink philosophy podcast channel, as well as the option to submit their work for inclusion in an edited volume with Lehigh University Press.

Keynote speakers: Havi Carel, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bristol and Matthew Ratcliffe, Professor of Philosophy, University of York

Organizers: Ally Peabody Smith (Lehigh University), Ellie Anderson (Pomona College), Fathima Wakeel (Lehigh University), and Tracy Nichols (Lehigh University).

Contact: [email protected]

We welcome presentations proposals for the following formats:

Papers (appropriate for 20-minute talk or oral presentation)

Posters

Artistic presentations, such as visuals, short films, fiction, memoir, poetry, music (for performances, appropriate for 20-minute slot)

Proposal formats:

For paper abstracts, 350-500 words.

For poster abstracts, 250-350 words. 

For artistic presentations, a description (250-350 words) and any relevant illustrations, clips, trailers, or similarly necessary materials.