The evolution and criticality of moral injury research

Our fifth annual conference - taking place in person in Durham, UK, on 19-21 April 2027

Call for papers (proposals for presentations)

As we collectively wrestle over the implications of defining and codifying moral injury in particular ways – notably with the 2025 proposal to include ‘Moral Injury Disorder’ in the next revision of the DSM - research into moral injury is rapidly creating new vocabularies that enhance and expand our understanding of it. While originating with Jonathan Shay’s work with military veterans, research into moral injury in healthcare, law enforcement, and veterinary, business and educational settings has demonstrated the commonalities amongst morally injurious contexts as well as the unique ways it manifests within them. Each has also continued to help clarify why veterans and military members suffer moral injury. In many instances, we are creating terms - such as acute moral injury and chronic moral stress - that help both identify an experience in a particular context as moral injury and differentiate it from others to avoid unnecessary conflict over definitions and gatekeeping of the term.

For military members and veterans, recent conflicts in Ukraine and Iran are rapidly shifting the strategic and tactical calculus of warfare. This changing nature will no doubt create new areas of moral consideration and require nuanced understandings of moral injury – not least through a shifting understanding of moral risk in the battlespace. Alongside this, in an increasingly unstable world order, the moral challenges are certainly shifting – particularly those brought on by pervasive disinformation, the rapid development of AI, and the growth and seeming insularity of extremist movements. In this environment, research into moral injury and how we understand our own values, react to moral injury in ourselves and others, and offer glimpses of what moral repair might look like feels more timely and critically important than ever. Explorations that surface ways of understanding moral injury and offer avenues, theories, and practices that facilitate repair will undoubtedly be vital in the coming years.  

For our 2027 conference, we particularly invite papers that tie together these aspects of moral injury research. However, while these are the general areas in which we invite papers for the conference, we value the diverse mix of research around moral injury that our previous conferences have elicited – and we equally value the collaborative efforts that they have helped foster. If you are doing work around moral injury and are wondering whether or not your proposal is fitting, we would encourage you to submit a proposal. 

Paper presentations will be 20 minutes (around 2500 words) in length, with a 10-minute question and answer session to follow.

In recognition that moral injury has many facets and that these are illuminated best through interdisciplinary dialogue from a variety of experiences, we welcome paper proposals from:

• All academic disciplines across the humanities, sciences and social sciences;
• Chaplains, clergy, psychologists and others with practical experiences of care for those with moral injury.

If you would like to submit a paper proposal, please submit a 500-word synopsis and some brief biographical information using our online paper proposal form by Thursday 17 December 2026. 

Venue and programme

The conference will take place at Durham University in the North East of England. The venue will be St Chad's College (pictured) which is in the historic city centre and 20 metres from Durham's World Heritage Site which comprises the magnificent Norman cathedral and castle in their dramatic position on top of the steep wooded banks of the River Wear.

The conference will run from 1.15pm on Monday 19 April to 1.15pm on Wednesday 21 April 2027.

Registration and costs

Registration will open in early 2027. The standard registration fee will be 260 GBP; students will be eligible to register for the subsidised registration fee of 190 GBP. This registration fee includes dinner on 19 April, lunch and dinner on 20 April, and plenty of tea and coffee breaks.

A small number of bursaries will be available intended for presenters who have less institutional support. This is a small fund that can offer limited, partial help towards attendance – these are intended only for those for whom the full costs would be prohibitive. If you would like to be considered for a bursary, please include this request in the “Other Notes” section of the paper proposal form, outlining where you would be travelling from and giving a breakdown of your travel costs.

Please note that we will not be able to confirm whether or not overnight accommodation is available at the university until January 2027. Paper proposers on a tight budget might wish to book a room at one of Durham’s more reasonably priced hotels. At the time of writing, refundable bookings are available at the Travelodge for around £65 per night. Delegates with more flexibility might like to consider the Premier Inn, Marriott, Radisson, or Hotel Indigo.

If you might like to attend without doing a presentation and would like to be notified when registration opens, please ensure you are on our mailing list.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the conference please do not hesitate to contact us at icmi@durham.ac.uk.