Workshops: Touch and the Value of Object Handling

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the workshops are open to all. The first workshop, 'The History of Touch: What do we Mean by Touch?' will be held in UCL's Gustav Tuck Lecture Theatre from 10am-4pm on 3 November 2006.

The programme features behavioural brain science expert Professor Alan Wing (University of Birmingham) whose session is on 'Weighty Issues in Handling Objects', Dr Fiona Candlin (Birkbeck College) on 'The Class Politics of Touch', and neuroscientist Dr Hugo Critchley (UCL Institute of Neuroscience), whose session is entitled 'Emotional Touch: a Neuroscientific Overview'

Cognitive neuroscientist Professor Francis McGlone's (Unilever Research and Development) session will cover how 'Discriminative and affective touch are subserved by separate peripheral and central neural systems', and experimental psychologist Dr Charles Spence (University of Oxford) on 'Multisensory Contributions to 'Touch': Recent Findings'.

A further three workshops will take place as part of the series: 'New Technologies for Enhancing Object Interpretation' will be held at the University of Central England on 1 December 2006. The series will return to UCL on 5 January 2007 for  'Touch and Memory: The Role of Reminiscence', 'Therapeutic Approaches to Touch: Object Handling and Hospital Patients' will take place at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital on 2 February 2007, and the end of project conference will take place at UCL on 4 May 2007.

Workshops are free, and refreshments will be provided. To book a place or for further information contact Ms Devorah Romanek or Dr Helen Chatterjee on 0207 679 4113.

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