We are delighted to invite researchers, educators, and PhD students to submit abstracts for consideration to be presented at the upcoming International Scientific Symposium on Digital Health and Gender, October 15th, 2026, at the Faculty of Education, Complutense University of Madrid (C/Rector Royo Villanova, 1, 28040 Madrid).
This symposium aims to bring together a range of theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions that enhance critical understandings of digital health education, particularly as it relates to the re/production of gendered subjectivities and youth. We particularly encourage those working in critical, poststructuralist, feminist, new materialist and more-than-human paradigms and who are engaging robust and innovative methodologies to both interrogate existing digital health practices and the socio-political contexts in which they are embedded as well as imagine more hopeful, equitable and safe digital health futures for young people.
Presentations will focus on theoretically informed analyses of contemporary digital health practices and technologies and their impact on young people's socialization, embodied learning, and health behaviours as well as consider how digital technologies are implicated in the re/production and disruption of intersecting inequities. Presentations that invite us to imagine how we might develop and embody critical pedagogies that challenge traditional, cis-normative, and patriarchal understanding of digital health are of particular interest. We invite speakers to consider the potential of digital health education informed by feminist and gendered perspectives to actively challenge the existing power relations and structures that re/produce gendered and structural inequalities among youth.
Oral Communications — topics
We welcome submissions for Oral Communications addressing the following issues:
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Digital health technologies and platform architectures shape in new ways the visual representations and perceptions of what constitutes the 'healthy' body, re/enforcing deeply gendered norms and binary ideals of health and wellbeing. We invite analyses that address how various health and wellness trends (that are deeply embedded in contemporary neoliberal, capitalist society) are shaping young people's daily lives, wellbeing and gender relations across social and cultural contexts.
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Personal information is being collected, stored, and used by commercial/third parties, albeit often in the name of 'youth wellbeing and health'. But the digitization of youth health is often driven by neoliberal commercial interests. We welcome critiques of how corporate datafication commodifies gendered and youthful bodies (e.g., through fitness trackers, period-tracking apps, and mental health platforms).
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How do discourses of body optimization, self-tracking performance, and 'healthy excellence' reproduce mechanisms of oppression, and structural discrimination that disproportionately affect historically marginalized groups of young people (LGBTIQ+ individuals, girls, non-binary youth, racialized communities, and young people with disabilities)? How can we imagine more equitable futures?
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While many young people and educators may know 'how' to use digital health technologies, there is a need for critical engagement and enhanced critical digital literacy. How can practitioners become better equipped to address gendered-algorithmic biases in youth educational settings/schools?
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How can theoretical and methodological tools work to counteract algorithmic radicalisation into hyper-masculine health cultures; collaborative methodologies for designing community-led youth initiatives that harness the voices of youth and challenge patriarchal and misogynistic power structures.
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Creative and practical examples of pedagogical approaches that critically engage Artificial Intelligence to imagine (or challenge) more equitable digital futures.
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What are young people's experiences of digital health education, pedagogy, and practice, and how are these shaped by intersecting gender, racialized, and socio-economic inequalities? How do community-specific challenges affect how diverse youths learn about health through digital technologies?
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How are existing policies around young people and digital health assembled, created and legitimized? What and whose purpose do they serve? How are they implicated in the reproduction or disruption of gender disparities and other intersectional inequalities?
Submission Guidelines
- Format: 15-minute presentation followed by a collective Q&A session.
- Modality: Presentations will be primarily in-person; however, to foster global inclusivity, we offer the possibility of remote presentation for a select number of accepted contributions.
Abstract Requirements
- Length: Maximum 350 words (excluding title and author details).
- Language: English or Spanish.
- Suggested Structure: Background/Objectives, Methodology, Findings/Discussion, and Conclusions.
Key Dates
Should those travelling internationally require earlier acceptance documentation for travel/institutional approval processes please indicate as this can be accommodated.
Contact
For any questions regarding submission guidelines, topics, or general inquiries, please feel free to reach out:
- General Inquiries: saluddigitaledu@ucm.es
- Co-Chairs: Dr. Marianne Clark (marianne.clark@acadiau.ca) and Dr. Maria José Camacho Miñano (mjcamacho@ucm.es)
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