The Story of Pain

How do we talk about pain and how has the way we do so changed over time? How hard is it to describe pain and how can putting pain into words impact on a person’s mental state? What is the public face of pain in a society at risk and in crisis? How do different disciplines—Medicine, Biology, History, Anthropology and Art History—refer to pain? What light can interdisciplinary discussion shine on pain?

The Onassis Stegi is staging a discussion on the historical, psychological, medical, artistic and social dimensions of pain to coincide with the publication of Joanna Bourke’s “The Story of Pain: From Prayer to Painkillers” by the Oxford University Press. The celebrated British historian and author heads the interdisciplinary Pain Project funded by the Wellcome Trust at Birkbeck College, London.

Moderated by Dimitris Papanikolaou, Associate Professor of Modern Greek Studies, University of Oxford