CAPS Research Network (formerly CASPR)
CAPS Research Network – 2026 Conference!
We have set the date! the CAPS Research Networks Conference will take place from 25–26 September 2026, with a welcome reception on the evening of 24 September, at the University of Manchester, UK! We are finalizing an exciting agenda for this event and are looking forward to the opportunity to share the important critical work of our members.
We are pleased to share that the conference will be offered in a hybrid format, allowing participants to attend and present either in person or online. To register, please visit:
This year’s conference theme is Decolonizing Pain. We invite submissions that critically engage with dominant understandings of pain and explore alternative ways of knowing, understanding, and responding to pain. We particularly welcome contributions from early career researchers, people with lived experience, clinicians, artists, and community contributors, including those working beyond traditional academic settings.
We encourage a wide range of presentation formats, including traditional talks, Pecha Kucha presentations, poetry, spoken word, film, visual art, music, performance, and other creative or experimental approaches.
To submit your proposal, please complete the Google Form here.
The deadline to submit is 24 July 2026.
Please share this call with colleagues, students, collaborators, community partners, and others who may be interested.
2025 CASPR Conference Recordings
We are thrilled to share the recordings of our CASPR conference. Please watch below. Be sure to check out our YouTube page at:
https://www.youtube.com/@criticalpainscholarship
2025 CASPR Conference Update
Our conference, which took place on May 2, 2025 in Toronto, was a success! Thank you to all of the speakers who took part in our event and to the Canadian Pain Society for their support! As an international research network, we understand that not everyone could attend, so we recorded the sessions and will be making them available soon on YouTube. Stay tuned!
2025 CASPR Conference
We have set the date! On May 2, 2025, we will be hosting a CASPR conference at the Canadian Pain Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Toronto, Canada! To learn more about the CPS ASM, please visit their website: https://www.canadianpainsociety.ca/asm. We are finalizing an exciting agenda for this daylong event and are looking forward to the opportunity to share the important critical work of our CASPR members. Stay tuned for more details!
Webinar Series
CASPR has developed a series of recorded webinars to highlight the groundbreaking work of our members. Please find the events below. Links to the recordings can be found in the Webinar Recordings page.
Webinar 1: Setting the stage
March 23, 2023 at 11:00am EST
In this introductory webinar, team members will provide an overview of the field.
- Introduction to the series – Fiona Webster
- Critical sociology of chronic pain – Laura Connoy
- A critical perspective on ‘Acceptance of Chronic Pain’: meta-ethnography findings and future directions – Cassandra Macgregor
- Meanings of pain in newcomer populations: Towards a decolonize framework – Mehmoona Moosa-Mitha
Webinar 2: Methodologies: Institutional Ethnography
April 20, 2023 at 11:00am EST
In this second webinar, team members will provide an overview of institutional ethnography and its application to (chronic) pain scholarship.
- Drawing on IE to explicate the work of living with chronic pain and systemic marginalization – Fiona Webster
- Using IE to uncover the social organization of chronic pain and opioid use – Leigha Comer
- Tracing the discursive turn from painful bodies to the bottom line through institutional ethnography – Craig Dale
Webinar 3: Arts-based or newly emerging methodologies
May 25, 2023 – 8:00am EST
Building on the second webinar, this third webinar focuses on arts-based and newly emerging methodologies in the field of critical (chronic) pain scholarship.
- Methods and the Sociality of Pain – Jen Tarr
- Towards an ethical multiplicity in pain care: practising beyond the biopsychosocial model – Karime Mescouto
- A Visual Exploration of Graphic Pain Scales – Gabi Schaffzin
- Illustrating the abstract: Drawing as method in critical qualitative health research – Katherine Mah
Webinar 4: Gender and (chronic) pain
June 22, 2023 – 11:00am EST
In this fourth webinar, CASPR team members will discuss the importance of a gendered approach to (chronic) pain research.
Webinar 5: Pain and critical disability studies
September 21, 2023 – 11:00am EST
In this fifth webinar, CASPR team members will discuss the relevance and applicability of critical disability studies to the field of (chronic) pain.
Please find the accessible slides and text below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rWu9PB0yh_TSlFNaGYNq-5GwnA3KfYxQwb4C8FQ45j0/edit?usp=sharing – Patsavas text
Webinar 6: Racism and experiences of (chronic) pain within racialized communities
October 26, 2023 – 11:00am EST
In this sixth webinar, CASPR members will discuss the prevalence of racism in conceptualizations of, and approaches to, (chronic) pain. The presenters for this session are: Dr. Staja “Star” Booker, Dr. Anna Hood, and Dr. Vani Mathur. It will be chaired by Dr. Jackie Walumbe.
