by Jerry Diamanti
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by Jerry Diamanti
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LXX CICA International Conference
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 8-9th March 2024
Call for Papers
Motivation
The vision of CICA is to help create a more humanitarian and conscious society through deepening our knowledge about consciousness, education, investigation/research, resolution of conflicts and the analysis of aggression and violence at all levels.
As our consciousness is considered the key to a meaningful life, its study is vitally important when considering the final moments of human life, known as death. Death as a topic is often taboo in modern society, but that does not make it any less important; on the contrary, as it involves many issues and is something we shall all have to face, it makes it a timely topic for this next CICA conference, which we have entitled ’The Dignity of Death’.
During the last quarter of the previous century and the beginning of the present, CICA has addressed different issues by scholars from an international, interdisciplinary, comprehensive approach to providing a more holistic focus on important individual, biological and societal issues. Many of these topics involve violence and potentially harmful behavior, so in addition to death in general, at this conference, we shall also address euthanasia. Responsible citizenship demands attention to the causes and consequences of harmful action, and reducing and preventing violence requires understanding the phenomenon, in this case, the complexity of the aspects involved in the dying process. A broad basic understanding is necessary if we are to propose positive remedies and point out ways toward peaceful solutions, consistent assistance, and non-violent alternatives.
The conference will take place at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
As traditionally death and the process towards and after death has been the territory of spirituality and religion, its study is multifaceted and goes beyond purely biological and social issues. However, as the dying process, like that of birthing, is slowly now being appropriated by the medical profession through them sometimes playing a role in when and how we die, we must ask ourselves how this trend, often encapsulated by the slogan ‘death with dignity, ’impacts, alters/improves or contradicts a more spiritual perspective?
Until about 1850, the English term ‘dignity’ as well as its Latin root, dignitas, and its French counterpart, dignit did not have a moral connotation but referred to the natural order of things or merit, which included a form of inequality. From this perspective the Dignity of Death suggests that death is worthy of respect, it is part of the natural order of things and has merit, which embraces a certain distinctiveness or dissimilarity. In 1948, when the United Nations ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the newer post 1850 understanding of the
word dignity meaning inherent or unearned worth of humans, became codified and officially took on a moralizing and political aspect, which implied sameness (Debes, R. 2017, Dignity a History, Oxford University Press, 2017).
So, we also must ask ourselves what are the implications of this change in the meaning of word dignity, how did different cultures, including our own, traditionally live the dying process, what have we lost, what have we gained? What can the different religions tell us about death, what is the role of religious/spiritual leaders in this process? How can early spiritual training in studying one’s own consciousness help us at the end of our lives, how can that help others who are dying? Among the issues to be considered must also include what occurs after death and how can the soul in transition be helped. One can look at these issues
and death in general from multiple perspectives, including sociological, anthropological, ethical, religious, medical, and spiritual – spirituality embracing the study of our consciousness, our inner world, which scientists can research from the ‘outside in’ approach and through qualitative scientific investigation. Contributors are also encouraged to examine the palliative system adopted by different countries and address legal and ethical issues regarding death.
There are also many practical issues, such as what the people accompanying the dying person need to know about the dying process, what to do while and after death occurs, what options exist regarding the wake in modern-day societies, traditional societies and in other cultures, what is then done afterward with the body of the deceased and how the loved ones can better live the mourning process. Another possible topic can be examination of the understanding of modern-day children who have not been encouraged to have any contact with the dying
process and death of a loved one and possibly have never seen a human corpse and much more.
The field is truly vast and can be addressed from a vast number of perspectives, some of which we have not mentioned here.
Keywords: death, dignity, dying process, interdisciplinary, consciousness, spiritual, religious, anthropological, sociological, medical, ethical
Supporting Institutions
CCA Global, Dialogo, Universal Peace Federation, DEYNA, La Casa Del Profesor
Main Organizers
Dr. Jesus Poveda de Augustin, Professor of Psychiatry, UAM (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
Dr. Tina Lindhard (Chair of Consciousness Research CICAInternational, IUPS International University of Professional Studies).
Conference Secretary:
Jurgen Espinoza
Conference Dates
8-9 th March, 2024 starting Friday afternoon and ending Saturday evening.
Conference Venue:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. The conference is in English and presential.
There will be translations from Spanish for those who do not follow/Speak English
Call for Contributions
Prospective authors are kindly encouraged to shape the conference through submissions of their full papers including abstracts on any aspect related to the conference theme. We also cordially invite high-quality research contributions from different disciplines describing original and unpublished results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, or theoretical work in
all Scientific disciplines connected to the topic. The phenomenological approach is also most welcome.
Guidelines for Authors
Please ensure your submission meets the conference’s guidelines for accepting scholarly papers. The paper must be in word-processed in English (Using MS-Word not exceeding 8,000 words, including abstract and references, figures (charts, maps, and tables) No more than 5 tables and five figures (high resolution) will be accepted for inclusion in the book. The initial article can be in Spanish and then it will be translated into English for publication.
The manuscripts must be double spaced with adherence to APA (7) style of referencing and must be organised with a single order of headings for appropriate sections.
The abstract should be between 200-300 words with a maximum of eight keywords. Early submission is encouraged!
We intend to follow the following timeline:
Early submission of Full articles including abstract – 15th Jan 2024
Late submission of Full article including abstract – 31 st Jan 2024
Presential and On-line
We encourage international participation and ask for presenters from abroad and different parts of Spain to come to Madrid to share their knowledge and expertise. The conference itself will be streamed so people can follow it from across the globe. The conference is presential as this encourages dialogue and long-term collaboration between the participants.
Presentation at the conference itself can be a resume of their article in Power Point and can also include photographs. There will be time also for round table discussions, so participants are encouraged to read the abstracts prior to the conference. There will also be a workshop.
The conference will be in English but with Spanish translation where necessary.
Book Publication
As with all CICA conferences, all contributions which pass a rigorous peer review process will form part of a book on the subject. More information will be available later.
The book will be published in English. Authors will be given a chance to do a final retouch to their papers prior to final submission 10 days after the conference has taken place – ie 4th March 2024.
Matriculation Fees: Participants
100 Euros for articles presented prior to the 15th of Jan 2024.
40 Euros for articles from students from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid prior to the 15th of Jan. 2024
170 Euros for articles presented after the 15th but prior to the 31st of Jan 2024
80 Euros for article from students from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid presented after the 15th but prior to the 31st of Jan 2024.
(These fees include the Conference fees and the publication of the article in a book of the same name as the Conference – The Dignity of Death).
Matriculation Fees: Public
There is a fee of 30 Euros for people who would personally like to attend both days of the conference but not present. This includes morning and afternoon coffee/tea
More information
For more information: Whatsapp 34 674897012; 34 659067797 or 34 607856717 or write toconsciousness@cicainternational.org
t.lindhard@iups.edu
jesus.poveda@uam.es
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