On behalf of the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Malta I would like to announce 'Discourses on Illness: Ancient Ways of Coping with Ill-health' funded by MCST Malta (Research Network Award 2024).

This two-day conference (6 October and 7 October 2025), hosted by the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Malta in collaboration with University of Durham, the University of Newcastle, and Humboldt University of Berlin, will explore the therapeutic power of speech and writing in ancient medicine and healing. Just as communication remains central to modern healthcare, ancient healers recognized the crucial role of words in diagnosis, persuasion, and treatment.

From the magical incantations of early practitioners to the rhetorical strategies of Hippocratic physicians and the extensive writings of Galen, the conference will examine how speech and text functioned as tools for diagnosis, healing, learning, and medical debate.

This conference also explores the physiological and psychological effects of language in literary texts and in medical and philosophical thought. We also welcome papers on broader cultural perspectives or which explore the health implications of various genres of literature (e.g., laughter therapy and comedy). By bridging medical, literary, and rhetorical traditions, this conference seeks to deepen our understanding of the healing word in the ancient world and its enduring relevance today.

Keynote Speakers: Prof. Lesley Dean-Jones and Prof. Chiara Thumiger.

Deadline for Abstracts: 15 June 2025 (Please submit through the following link).

Further information is available online.