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EPIC Seminar: Epistemic injustice, Expertise, and Legal Processes
10.02.26
2.30pm – 5.30pm
Room: 2.06, 35 Berkeley Square, University of Bristol
Hybrid: There will be limited hybrid joining facilities. Please contact sheelagh.mcguinness@bristol.ac.uk
Panel Presentations:
Expertise and Epistemic Injustice (Prof Lisa Bortolotti, University of Birmingham)
When we form judgements, understand and solve problems, make decisions, and pursue other epistemic projects, we rely on the evidence provided by experts. Agents cannot perform as experts unless we recognise their potential to contribute to our epistemic project, offer them the opportunity to contribute, and give uptake to their contribution, accepting it as evidence. When combined, the three steps above exemplify the form of engagement that is the goal of epistemically just interactions. In this paper, I map various ways of obstructing the performance of expertise onto forms of epistemic injustice (participatory injustice, exclusion and harmful inclusion, forensically challenged or extracted testimony). I refer to expertise by experience in mental health as the primary example. The epistemic injustice framework can help us understand how agents subject to identity prejudices are prevented from performing as experts.
How lived experience has shaped mental health and mental capacity law? (Dr Lucy Series, University of Bristol)
In this presentation I will provide an account of mental health and mental capacity law and policy. The focus will be on the extent to which these areas have been shaped at international and domestic levels by lived experience (or not been, as the case may be). I will move on from this to consider what happens when lived experiences differ.
Disrespect, inquests and fitness to practise hearings (Prof Sara Ryan, Manchester Metropolitan University)
In this presentation I discuss published research about how bereaved families of relatives with learning disabilities experience coronial processes, and ongoing research about public witnesses' experiences of fitness to practise hearings. Epistemic injustice, poor communication and disrespect characterise both contexts.
Reflections:
TBC
To register:
Please accept the calendar invite to register your interest in attending.
For further details please contact Prof Sheelagh McGuinness, University of Bristol (sheelagh.mcguinness@bristol.ac.uk)
Funding and support:
This event is supported by the University of Bristol Law School and the Wellcome Trust-funded project EPIC: Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare.
Silence in Music and Philosophy
16.03.26
St George's Bristol
Start: 6.30
· Opening + short mindfulness practice focusing on breath and silence
(Kate Binnie) (5 mins)
· A philosophical overview
(Dan Degerman) (10 mins)
· Music overview
(John Pickard & Emma Hornby) (10 mins)
· Musical performance (20 mins) - Schola Cantorum, University of Bristol
7.15-7.35 INTERVAL (20 minutes)
· Panel Discussion, Chair Havi Carel
(Dan Degerman, Emma Hornby, John Pickard, Anthony Everett, Kate Binnie)
· Q&A (15 mins)
· Closing comments (5 mins)
End: 8.30
Tickets will be available for £3 per person from 19.01.26. Each ticket purchased can be exchanged for a drink at the bar during the interval.
Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash
Network Seminar: "Hearing voices, suicidality, and AI-psychosis"
20.03.26
Location
In person: Assembly Room, The Exchange, 3 Centenary Square,
Birmingham, B1 2DR.
Online: Teams meeting
In this event we reflect on AI psychosis and the relationship between hearing voices and suicidality from the perspectives of philosophy, mental health research, psychology, and lived experience.
Session 1: Philosophical Perspectives on AI Psychosis
Chairperson: Lisa Bortolotti
09:00-09:30 Registration
09:30-10:00 Elisabetta Lalumera (University of Bologna): AI Psychosis as a Conceptual Choice: Evidence, Alternatives, and Normative Trade-offs
10:00-10:30 Anneli Jefferson (University of Cardiff): Cults, Mirrors and AI Psychosis.
10:30-11:00 Q&A
11:00-11:30 Coffee break
11:30-12:00 Kathleen Murphy-Hollies (University of Birmingham): Against AI causing "AI Psychosis"
12:00-12:30 Lucy Osler (University of Exeter): Creating Realities with Social Chatbots
12:30-13:00 Q&A
13:00-14:00 Lunch
Session 2: Hearing Voices and Suicidality
Chairperson: Kathleen Murphy-Hollies
14:00-14:30 Sarah Parry (University of Manchester): What have we learnt so far from the ChUSE Trial? A NIHR funded feasibility trial into improving access to psychological therapy in CAMHS for children and young people with distressing sensory experiences.
14:30-15:00 Fiona Malpass (Mind in Camden): Hearing Voices and Suicidality
15:00-15:30 Q&A
15:30-15:45 Coffee break
15:45-16:15 Lisa Bortolotti (University of Birmingham and University of Ferrara): Resources for professionals supporting people who hear voices.
16:15-16:30 Final thoughts.
EPIC summer school
EPIC summer school 2026
14.07.26 - 17.07.26
Ce.U.B (Centro Residenziale Universitario di Bertinoro) in Bertinoro, Italy.
Phenomenology, speech, and belonging
26.11.25
12pm - 5:30pm
Co-Hosted by EPIC and the CHHS (Centre for Health, Humanities and Science
Programme:
12pm – 1pm Arrival and lunch
1pm – 2:30pm Anthony Fernandez (Southern Denmark): Phenomenologically Grounded Qualitative Research as a Method for Descriptive Psychopathology
2:30pm – 3:15pm Lucienne Spencer (Oxford): The phenomenology of s
26.11.25
12pm - 5:30pm
Co-Hosted by EPIC and the CHHS (Centre for Health, Humanities and Science
Programme:
12pm – 1pm Arrival and lunch
1pm – 2:30pm Anthony Fernandez (Southern Denmark): Phenomenologically Grounded Qualitative Research as a Method for Descriptive Psychopathology
2:30pm – 3:15pm Lucienne Spencer (Oxford): The phenomenology of speech expression in the therapeutic space
3:15pm – 3:45pm Break
3:45pm – 4:30pm Nga Chun Josh Law (Bristol): Beauvoir’s Existentialist Phenomenology of Old Age
4:30pm – 5:15pm Ellie Byrne (Nottingham) and Jae Sul (UWE): Phenomenology of belonging and second-generation migrant psychosis
5:15pm – 5:30pm Closing comments
Critical Approaches to Like and Dislike in Medicine, Law, and Society
15.10.25
9:30am - 5:30pm
Programme:
9.30. Registration/coffee
10.00. Fred Cooper and Sheelagh McGuinness, Law, University of Bristol. Critical approaches to like and dislike.
10.20. Lucy Series, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. Keynote speech: On smiling less.
11.10. Break
11.30. Panel 1:
Alessandro Guardascione, Philosophy, Un
15.10.25
9:30am - 5:30pm
Programme:
9.30. Registration/coffee
10.00. Fred Cooper and Sheelagh McGuinness, Law, University of Bristol. Critical approaches to like and dislike.
10.20. Lucy Series, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. Keynote speech: On smiling less.
11.10. Break
11.30. Panel 1:
Alessandro Guardascione, Philosophy, University College Dublin. The Normativity of Likeability: Towards A Phenomenological Approach.
Eleanor Byrne, Philosophy, University of Nottingham. High-stakes emotional expression in functional neurology.
Paula Muhr, Transdisciplinary Studies, Brand University of Applied Sciences. Functional Seizures and the Persistence of Historical Stereotypes of the ‘Difficult’ Patient.
13.00. Lunch
14.00. Panel 2:
Pravajya Pandey, Independent researcher. Masked and Unlikeable: Affective Injustice and Epistemic Erasure in ADHD Women.
Sandra Duffy and Abs S. Ashley, Law/English, University of Bristol. Can the neurotrans person speak?
Noemi Paciscopi, Cristina Ganz and Mara Floris, Philosophy, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele. Likeability, Silence, and Power: Affective and Epistemic Injustice in Obstetric Care.
15.30. Break
15.50. Panel 3
Barry Lyons, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin. Like/Dislike and the Consequences of Adverse Events in Medicine.
Davy Tennison, Science and Technology Studies, UCL. “How can you stand those women??”: understanding the dislike of fibromyalgia patients as both epistemic injustice and epistemic dysfunction.
Hugh Robertson-Ritchie, Philosophy, University of Kent. Unlikable Responses to Medical Uncertainty: Evidence from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
17.20. Closing remarks and reception.
Decolonization, Reflexivity and Epistemic Injustice in Mental Health and Therapeutic Arts
Hybrid: 27.06.25
Keynote speakers
Professor Susan Hogan - Event Chair
Professor of Arts in Health, University of Derby, and IMH Fellow
Dr Oihika Chakrabarti
Decolonising the Curriculum in Art Therapy in India
Director of the Manahkshetra Foundation and Chair of The Art Therapy Association India (TATAI)
Professor Suranjan Das
Decolonising
Hybrid: 27.06.25
Keynote speakers
Professor Susan Hogan - Event Chair
Professor of Arts in Health, University of Derby, and IMH Fellow
Dr Oihika Chakrabarti
Decolonising the Curriculum in Art Therapy in India
Director of the Manahkshetra Foundation and Chair of The Art Therapy Association India (TATAI)
Professor Suranjan Das
Decolonising the Knowledge System: The Way Forward
Vice-Chancellor, Adamas University
Dr Ranjita Dhital Developing Arts-Based Transdisciplinary Public Health Alcohol Research in Nepal
Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Health Studies, University College London
Dr Ellie Burne and Dr Alice Monypenny - Epistemic Injustice, Affective Injustice and Mental Health
University of Nottingham
Mental Health, Methodology and Hermeneutical Injustice
Mental Health, Methodology and Hermeneutical Injustice
Date: 10.04.2025
10:30 tea & coffee
11:00: Jae Ryeong Sul (Bristol): What Are Phenomenologists Doing in Psychopathology?
12:00 Lucienne Spencer (Oxford): Hermeneutic Injustice & Ontic Power in Mental Health
13:00 Lunch (own arrangements)
14:30 KomarineRomdenh-Romluc (Sheffield): The Problem of Authority in Hermeneutic Injustice
3:30 close
Philosophy and Mental Health
Understanding oneself through others: Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare X Distributed Cognition
Mental Health, Methodology and Hermeneutical Injustice
Date: 21.03.2025
In this webinar chaired by Lisa Bortolotti we will look at how the notion of epistemic injustice (emerged in philosophy at the intersection of ethics and epistemology) can help us recognise the importance of seeing the mental health patient as a person, an agent, and a collaborator. Of interest to mental health researche
Date: 21.03.2025
In this webinar chaired by Lisa Bortolotti we will look at how the notion of epistemic injustice (emerged in philosophy at the intersection of ethics and epistemology) can help us recognise the importance of seeing the mental health patient as a person, an agent, and a collaborator. Of interest to mental health researchers, clinicians, healthcare service users, carers, and people working for mental health organisations.
Panelists include:
· Michael Larkin (Aston University): “Feeling and Being Understood in Young People Seeking Help.”
· Rose McCabe (City, University of London): “Improving Relational and Communicative Practices Amongst Mental Health Professionals.”
· Luigi Grassi (University of Ferrara): “Preserving Dignity and Epistemic Justice in Palliative Care for Patients with Serious Mental Health Problems.”
Elisabetta Lalumera (University of Bologna): “Ameliorating Epistemic Injustice with Digital Health Technologies.”
· Rabih Chattat (University of Bologna): “Promoting Good Living and Social Health in Dementia.”
Loneliness, Metaphor and Empathy
Understanding oneself through others: Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare X Distributed Cognition
Understanding oneself through others: Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare X Distributed Cognition
Date: 21.01.25
Fred Cooper (Bristol)
The Naked Terror: Joseph Conrad, 'true loneliness', and the inability to know.
Kathleen Murphy-Hollies (Birmingham)
Giving uptake to metaphorical meaning
Eleanor A. Byrne (Nottingham)
Ground empathy: a fundamental dimension of empathy?
Understanding oneself through others: Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare X Distributed Cognition
Understanding oneself through others: Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare X Distributed Cognition
Understanding oneself through others: Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare X Distributed Cognition
Date: 23/34.09.25
Research within distributed cognition and affectivity emphasises the essential role of other people in realising various cognitive and affective states. Similarly, work on epistemic injustice in healthcare has drawn attention to the influence of other people on our practices of cultivating, sharing, and communicating know
Date: 23/34.09.25
Research within distributed cognition and affectivity emphasises the essential role of other people in realising various cognitive and affective states. Similarly, work on epistemic injustice in healthcare has drawn attention to the influence of other people on our practices of cultivating, sharing, and communicating knowledge about our bodies.
In this workshop, we aim to pursue interesting possibilities for future research at the intersection of these research areas. Some researchers have begun to look at the “dark side” of distributed cognition, scaffolding, and other distributed cognitive and affective practices to develop more socio-politically situated analyses.
Early career women in Philosophy on epistemic injustice
Early career women in Philosophy on epistemic injustice
Early career women in Philosophy on epistemic injustice
Date: 04.07.25
10:00-10:45 WHAT GIVES MEANING TO DELUSIONS? ROSA RITUNNANO
10:45-11:30 THE BURDEN OF THE STORY SALLY LATHAM
11:30-12:15 AFFECT, UPTAKE AND EXISTENTIAL FEELING ELEANOR BYRNE
13:00-13:45 EPISTEMIC HYPERVIGILANCE AND THE PSYCHIATRIST ELEANOR PALAFOX-HARRIS
13:45-14:30 EPISTEMIC JUSTICE AS CARE IN TRAUMA-SHARING KATHLEEN MURPHY-HOL
Date: 04.07.25
10:00-10:45 WHAT GIVES MEANING TO DELUSIONS? ROSA RITUNNANO
10:45-11:30 THE BURDEN OF THE STORY SALLY LATHAM
11:30-12:15 AFFECT, UPTAKE AND EXISTENTIAL FEELING ELEANOR BYRNE
13:00-13:45 EPISTEMIC HYPERVIGILANCE AND THE PSYCHIATRIST ELEANOR PALAFOX-HARRIS
13:45-14:30 EPISTEMIC JUSTICE AS CARE IN TRAUMA-SHARING KATHLEEN MURPHY-HOLLIES
14:30-15:15 WHY PLURALISM OF MODELS DOESN’T LEAD TO A MORE FEMINIST PSYCHIATRY JODIE RUSSELL
15:30-16:15 TACTICAL TESTIMONIAL SMOTHERING AND EPISTEMIC AGENCY ALICE MONYPENNY
16:15-17:00 HUMAN RIGHT TO SCIENCE: TRUTH AND EPISTEMIC (IN)JUSTICE FRANCESCA BELLAZZI
Trauma, Depression, and Philosophy of Psychiatry
Early career women in Philosophy on epistemic injustice
Early career women in Philosophy on epistemic injustice
Date: 10.06.24
11.Giorgio Mazzullo (Nottingham Philosophy) - On Trauma and Psychological Trauma
12.Ian James Kidd (Nottingham Philosophy) - Depression and Hermeneutical Injustice
1.lunch (own arrangements - we'll go to Portland)
2.30. Henry Taylor (Birmingham Philosophy) - Should Psychiatric Kinds Be Eliminated?
3.30. Ellie Palafox-Harris
Date: 10.06.24
11.Giorgio Mazzullo (Nottingham Philosophy) - On Trauma and Psychological Trauma
12.Ian James Kidd (Nottingham Philosophy) - Depression and Hermeneutical Injustice
1.lunch (own arrangements - we'll go to Portland)
2.30. Henry Taylor (Birmingham Philosophy) - Should Psychiatric Kinds Be Eliminated?
3.30. Ellie Palafox-Harris (Birmingham Philosophy) - Epistemic Hypervigilance and the Psychiatrist
4.30. end.
Screening of 'The Unequal Pandemic'
Early career women in Philosophy on epistemic injustice
Screening of 'The Unequal Pandemic'
Date: 30.05.24
The Unequal Pandemic (Good Guys Productions Ltd, 2024): a short film that lays bare the long term institutional, societal and governmental failures that led to one of the highest excess Covid death rates in the developed world.
After the screening, a panel of experts reflected on its key themes from their own unique research
Date: 30.05.24
The Unequal Pandemic (Good Guys Productions Ltd, 2024): a short film that lays bare the long term institutional, societal and governmental failures that led to one of the highest excess Covid death rates in the developed world.
After the screening, a panel of experts reflected on its key themes from their own unique research and professional perspectives.
The panel featured: Prof Havi Carel (UoB), Prof Josie Gill (UoB), Prof Christina Gray (Director of Communities and Public Health, Bristol City Council), Dr Habib Naqvi MBE (director, NHS Race and Health Observatory)
Co-hosted by the Centre for Black Humanities and the EPIC project.
EPIC LAUNCH EVENT
Silence and Psychopathology: Philosophical Perspectives
Screening of 'The Unequal Pandemic'
Date: 13.05.24
3:45pm: Arrival and Welcome Drink
4pm: Welcome talk from EPIC project Principle Investigator, Havi Carel
4:10pm: Talks from EPIC project Co-Investigators Lisa Bortolotti, Matthew Broome, Ian Kidd and Sheelagh McGuinness
4:25pm: Talks from EPIC specialist staff member Michael Bresalier and EPIC postdocs Ellie Byrne, Fred Cooper,
Date: 13.05.24
3:45pm: Arrival and Welcome Drink
4pm: Welcome talk from EPIC project Principle Investigator, Havi Carel
4:10pm: Talks from EPIC project Co-Investigators Lisa Bortolotti, Matthew Broome, Ian Kidd and Sheelagh McGuinness
4:25pm: Talks from EPIC specialist staff member Michael Bresalier and EPIC postdocs Ellie Byrne, Fred Cooper, Dan Degerman and Kathleen Murphy-Hollies
4:50pm: University singers perform world premiere of EPIC commissioned piece
5:15pm: Networking
6pm: Close
Silence and Psychopathology: Philosophical Perspectives
Silence and Psychopathology: Philosophical Perspectives
Silence and Psychopathology: Philosophical Perspectives
Date 01.09.23
Hosted by Dan Degerman at University of Bristol.
'Trauma' Event
Silence and Psychopathology: Philosophical Perspectives
Silence and Psychopathology: Philosophical Perspectives
Date 29.11.23
Co-Hosted by the Centre for Health, Humanities and Science and the EPIC project.
