DIHM DIGEST

Issue 5 / December 2016

1

Welcome to the 5th issue of DIHM Digest. This

issue is designated as “COMET 2016 @

AALBORG IN PICTURES” and will hopefully be

an enjoyable and relaxing browse for all our

readers, and a collective reminiscence for the

COMET conference participants in particular.

Many thanks to Susanne Togeby and Charlotte

Hyldgaard for taking photos during the event.

Srikant Sarangi/Bettina Jensen

COMET 2015 – FORERUNNER TO COMET 2016

DIHM’s COMET 2016 journey began already in

the summer of 2015 when Srikant Sarangi

closed the COMET conference in Hong Kong by

thanking the local organisers for their

tremendous ‘sweltering’ efforts in hosting

COMET for the first time in Asia.

COMET was now ready to travel from Asia to

Scandinavia, to be hosted for the first time in

Denmark.

The typical, serene Danish lifestyle

Aalborg Harbour Front

Srikant Sarangi at COMET 2015 in Hong Kong

IN THIS ISSUE

COMET 2015 – Forerunner of COMET 2016 1 Conference Outing and Dinner 8 The COMET Backstage 3 Goodbye – and We Will Meet in 2017 10

Welcome to COMET 2016 at AAU 3 Post-COMET 2016 10 The Academic Profile of COMET 2016 5 Talks & Travels 11 The Not-So-Academic Side of COMET 2016 7 Announcements 12

DIHM DIGEST ISSUE 5, DECEMBER 2016

Danish Institute of Humanities and Medicine Aalborg University, Kroghstræde 3, 9220 Aalborg Øst, Denmark

www.dihm.aau.dk

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Issue 5 / December 2016

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A social mingling place at the heart of Aalborg, next

to the COMET 2016 venue

In showcasing Aalborg as the next COMET

venue, Srikant Sarangi shared a slide show

dubbed as the quintessence of the Danish way

of life – a trinity of humour-irony-happiness.

From the cradle to the grave, it is a happy tight-rope

walk!

LYKKELIG means HAPPY. One is happy even when on the losing side!

Journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen

Russell – in her adventure to discover the

formula for Danish happiness – lives for a year

in rural Jutland and explores the myth that

Denmark does not just consist of long dark

winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries. The

core message is: how to benefit from living a

little more Danishly! If in doubt, ask Srikant

Sarangi, who now has a claim to ‘Three Years of

Living Danishly’!

The Danish sense of happiness even extends to

inanimate objects: it is writ large on the walls.

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Aalborg University on the road show!

This is one of the advertisements in the centre of Aalborg announcing the side effects of learning!

‘Aalborg Univers’

– with muted spelling and a tinge of humour!

COMET 2016 promised COMETers not only a

professionally engaging conference but also a

culturally and socially entertaining couple of

days in the Danish Capital of the North.

THE COMET BACKSTAGE

The preparations for COMET 2016 began with

the call for papers, followed by several

reminders. 162 proposals were received, which

went through a sorting procedure to map these

onto the conference themes. The proposals

were then sent to a panel of reviewers.

Srikant Sarangi going through

COMET 2016 proposals

The sorting process was a recursive one until

the final conference programme was drawn up.

Presenters at COMET 2016 came from as many

as 25 countries.

WELCOME TO COMET 201 6 AT

AALBORG UNIVERSITY

Opening session of the 14th COMET conference at Aalborg University

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Warm greetings were extended by Srikant

Sarangi, Director of Danish Institute of

Humanities and Medicine (DIHM), Mikael

Vetner, Head of Department of Communication

and Psychology, and Søren Hjortshøj, Head of

Department of Clinical Medicine.

Mikael Vetner, Søren Hjortshøj, Department of Department of Communication and Clinical Medicine Psychology

On the one hand and on the other hand – the fractured wrist that Srikant Sarangi sustained following a fall did not dampen the COMET event.

CONFERENCE RECEPTION

At the end of a hectic opening day, the drinks

and buffet reception, hosted

by Aalborg Commune, came

as a relief. A welcome speech

was delivered by the Deputy

Mayor, Daniel Nyboe

Andersen, who labelled

Aalborg an ideal conference

city and DIHM an obvious

COMET host with its focus on

healthcare agendas and cross-disciplinary

research.

Aalborg University’s new CREATE Building offered

COMET participants the opportunity to hear the welcome speech from a soft vantage point.

Participants enjoyed ’conferring’ during the

welcome reception. One wonders what it would

be like if the entire conference programme is

made up of such opportunities!

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THE ACADEMIC PROFILE OF COMET 2016

COMET 2016 included three plenary lectures,

two featured lectures, three panels, 94 oral

presentations and 20 poster presentations. Here

is a selection of them.

Dame Lesley Southgate, Professor of Medical

Education, St George’s Hospital Medical School,

UK, gave the first plenary lecture which was also

the 3rd Aalborg Lecture in Humanities and

Medicine: Assessing medical professionalism and

communication in authentic settings: Can we use

videotapes of actual consultations?

Lesley Southgate, UK

Lauris Kaldjian, Professor of Internal Medicine,

University of Iowa College of Medicine, USA,

gave a featured lecture titled: Health, ethics, and

communication in shared decision making: What

we believe and say matters.

Adam Hedgecoe, Professor in the School of

Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK, delivered

a featured lecture titled: The presentation of self

in a Research Ethics Committee.

Adam Hedgecoe, UK Lauris Kaldjian, USA

Davina Allen, Professor of Healthcare Delivery

and Organisation, Cardiff University, UK, gave

the second plenary lecture titled: “Organising

work”: Nurses’ invisible contribution to

healthcare quality and safety.

Davina Allen, UK Leah Wingard, USA

The final plenary lecture was given by Leah

Wingard, Associate Professor of Communi-

cation, San Francisco State University, USA,

under the title: Guiding choices and setting

agendas while preserving patient agency in

diabetic coaching visits with young adults.

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POSTER PRESENTATIONS

COMET 2016

Louise Rolland (left), University of London, UK,

discussing her poster with fellow COMETers.

Olivia Knapton (right), University of Birmingham,

UK, engaged in discussion about her project on communication and understanding of risk and

uncertainty.

Morten Aagaard (left), Aalborg University, Denmark,

explaining his project ‘Visualisation of Patient Data – for Patients’.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

COMET 2016

Charlotte Hommerberg (right), Linnaeus University, Sweden, discussing with Beth Goering, IUPUI, USA.

Elena Link (right), Hannover University of Music,

Drama and Media, Germany, listening to a comment made by Annegrethe Nielsen, UCN, Denmark.

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THE NOT-SO-ACADEMIC SIDE OF

COMET 2016

The Aalborg summer sky was threatening with

rain clouds. The photograph below would have

won a prize if there were a COMET Photographs

Competition!

Photo by Zhengpeng Luo,

The University of Hong Kong

Some COMETers found their way to the many

cosy cafés and restaurants located in the city

centre of Aalborg.

COMETers enjoying ‘The Aalborg Beer Walk’

COMETers at Café Klostertorvet

The main hall in the CREATE Building offered a splendid view of ‘Limfjorden’ during lunch breaks.

Our dedicated student helpers and senior conference

organiser, Charlotte Hyldgaard, were kept busy at the Registration/Help Desk even during lunches.

COMET Founder, Srikant Sarangi, celebrated his birthday during COMET and was presented with

a song and a cake to mark the occasion.

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CONFERENCE OUTING AN D DINNER

The Danish summer weather turned out to be

less hospitable, especially for the COMET outing

and dinner at the Robber’s Camp in the Forest

of Rold at Rebild National Park. Two buses

ferried those who were brave enough to enrol in

this mysterious expedition – even the local

organisers did not have a clue as to what to

expect! The umbrella and water-proof jackets

and boots became enviable objects.

The sound of rain on the tent roof, the sight and

warmth of log fire and the smell of the

barbecued meal added much to the experience –

as did the Rold Robbers who entertained with

naughty songs, ‘robberies’ and other antics

throughout the conference dinner.

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A GAME PLAN

Several COMETers proved to be very skilled archers – many unfortunate wooden boars became victims

of avid hunters as the evening progressed.

Picking up and throwing an axe was among

the most popular ‘Viking’ tests.

The Organising Committee did not hear anyone

complain of sore arms after the Conference Outing and Dinner – despite the many

fierce sawing competitions!

THE THREAT – TRICK OR TREAT?

Srikant Sarangi had a smile on his face despite

having his pockets emptied by the Rold Robbers.

Conference secretary, Bettina Jensen, only barely

made it home in one piece.

This group photograph at the end of an exciting

evening was equivalent to a head count to make sure all were alive and well!

The posterity will ask – what have the pictures

above got to do with COMET? But, then, COMET

2016 promised outing with dinner!

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GOODBYE - AND WE WILL MEET IN 2017

Beth Goering, IUPUI, announces COMET 2017 during

the 2016 closing session.

Professor Beth Goering, Indiana University

Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI),

presented the venue for the next COMET.

COMET 2017 will be held from 26 to 28 June

2017, hosted by IUPUI, USA. The call for

proposals has been announced and deadline for

submission is 16 January 2017. See more at the

conference website:

https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/icic/pages/comet-2017-conference/index.php

This injunction only applied to those COMETers who were flying out of Aalborg Airport. If you missed the

sign, you need to revisit Aalborg and avail this opportunity!

POST-COMET 2016

Here are a few edited and anonymised

comments from the COMETers about their

experience.

We got back to our little island last night. Thank

you once again for a fantastic Danish

hospitality. We really enjoyed your country –

particularly its people.

*************************************************

I am sitting here reflecting on what a great and

informative time I had at the conference. It was

my first experience and very enjoyable! Thank

you for all your hospitality, particularly giving

me the opportunity to throw an axe!!

*************************************************

Thank you for all you did before and during

COMET to ensure such a tremendously

welcoming, engaging, and helpful conference.

The countless details were so seamlessly

organized that you and your team made it all

look so easy – but I know that such ease of

presentation (like a fine symphony) only comes

from enormous work of preparation. It really was

a great accomplishment.

*************************************************

While flying back home, I could still feel the

incredibly sweet atmosphere of well-being,

following my stay at Aalborg University. The way

Prof. Sarangi 'conducted the orchestra' was

simply...MAGISTRAL. The sense of harmony and

equilibrium, the alternation of sounds of silence

and sounds of words, which to me are symptoms

of profound seriousness, is what I will keep

forever in my mind, and in my heart, of what has

been Your COMET Conference. Together with the

pleasure and the honour of listening to

outstanding academicians and professionals

coming from all over the world...and of listening

to Srikant himself.

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Issue 5 / December 2016

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TALKS & TRAVELS

Quite uncharacteristically, Professor Sarangi’s

early summer commitments did not require

packing a suitcase and spending time at airports as

the 3rd DIHM Summer School, the 14th COMET

conference and the Post-COMET Masterclass were

all hosted by DIHM at Aalborg University at the end

of June and the beginning of July.

From August onwards, the travel routine re-

started. He visited Kathmandu to give a workshop

on publishing in international journals. The

workshop was an integral part of the MAGAART

project – which is a partnership between several

Danish universities (Aarhus, Aalborg and Roskilde)

and the Southern partners (Tribhuvan University,

Nepal, Maseno University, Kenya and Gulu

University, Uganda).

On 30 August, he presented a talk titled “Multi-

party communication about sensitive topics in the

sexology clinic” at the Sexologisk Center at Aalborg

University Hospital. The talk was designed as a

kick-off event for a collaborative pilot project

between the Sexologisk Center and DIHM which is

currently underway.

In early October Professor Sarangi was in Doha at

the newly founded College of Medicine, Qatar

University (QU), being invited by Egon Toft, former

Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Aalborg

University and now the Vice President for Medical

Education and Dean of the College of Medicine at

QU. He presented several talks and held many

meetings to steer research ideas. He also ran a

workshop for the faculty members titled “A

contextual model of healthcare communication:

Challenges for description and assessment”. A

report about the workshop can be accessed here:

http://www.qatarisbooming.com/article/qu-

cmed-lecture-discusses-challenges-facing-

contemporary-health-care-communication

While in Doha, Qatar Tribune interviewed him

about his visit to the College of Medicine, which can

be accessed here: http://www.qatar-

tribune.com/news-details/id/37653

Soon after the Doha assignment, Professor Sarangi

travelled to Trondheim for a series of activities at

the Norwegian University of Science and

Technology (NTNU). Here he gave a half-day

workshop on publishing in international journals

and ran a 5-day PhD course entitled “Discourse

Analysis in Institutional and Professional Settings”.

Back in Denmark, Professor Sarangi attended the

6th International Conference on Applied Linguistics

and Professional Practice (ALAPP) hosted by

University of Copenhagen. He delivered the

inaugural Candlin Lecture in honour of Christopher

N. Candlin titled “The mutation of expertise and

expert systems in contemporary professional

practice”. Professor Sarangi also ran the ALAPP

Masterclass on “Engaging Qualitatively with

Institutional and Professional Discourse”.

The Nordic PhD School of Applied Linguistics

(NORDPAL) and the Nordic Discourse Conference

(NORDISCO) were both held in Norway at the Oslo

and Akershus University College. At NORDPAL,

Professor Sarangi held two sessions – one on

applied linguistic methodology and the other on

getting published internationally. At the request of

the organisers of the NORDISCO conference, he

presented a workshop titled “On getting published

in international journals”.

From 25th November until 24th December,

Professor Sarangi is based in Hong Kong as the

Visiting Research Professor in the Centre for the

Humanities and Medicine, The University of Hong

Kong.

For a full list of Professor Sarangi’s lectures,

workshops, masterclasses and presentations, visit

the DIHM website: www.dihm.aau.dk

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Issue 5 / December 2016

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

The 3rd Workshop on Publishing in International Journals will take place at Aalborg University, 25-27 January 2017. http://www.communication.aau.dk/research/dihm/events/show/workshop-on-publishing-in-international-journals-2017.cid295033

The 15th COMET conference will take place at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), USA, 26-28 June 2017. https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/icic/pages/comet-2017-conference/index.php

The COMET Masterclass will take place at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), USA, on 29 June 2017. https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/icic/pages/comet-2017-conference/post-comet-masterclass.php

The 4th DIHM Summer School will take place at Aalborg University and is tentatively scheduled for 28 August – 1 September 2017. More information will be available soon at: www.dihm.aau.dk

The 7th ALAPP conference will take place at Ghent University, 21-23 November 2017. A conference website will be launched in early 2017.