Call for Proposals: Survivor Objects: The Material Culture of Memory
November 14-15, 2014
Newark, Delaware
Center for Material Culture Studies, University of Delaware
Deadline for Proposals: April 30, 2014
“Survivor Objects” considers the cultural power accrued by artifacts that have endured social conflict. By bearing historical witness, such objects can come to hold a privileged place in cultural memory and, as a result, play a powerful role for present-day communities. Topics for presentation at the symposium might include but are not limited to:
- themes of iconoclasm and the afterlife of monuments following political upheaval or civil struggle
- religious strife and sacred objects
- war and its remembrance
- practices such as potlatch, wherein the destruction of an object may cement social relations
- questions regarding the repatriation of culturally sensitive artifacts.
- In the centenary of World War I, topics relating to that event are especially welcome. Through these papers and the discussions they generate, “Survivor Objects” will explore the meanings of material objects that have been tempered by trauma.
A proposal abstract of no more than 250 words should be sent along with a current CV to Sandy Isenstadt (isnt@udel.edu) by April 30, 2014. Speakers will be notified by the end of May, 2014, and will be asked to submit the final draft of their paper, which should take no more than twenty minutes to present, by September 30.
For further information please contact Sandy Isenstadt (isnt@udel.edu)
