CALL FOR PAPERS - XVII Universeum Meeting 9 - 11 June 2016
XVII UNIVERSEUM NETWORK MEETING
University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University, The
Netherlands, 9-11 June 2016
Connecting Collections
Call for Papers
The European Academic Heritage Network UNIVERSEUM
announces its 17th Annual Meeting. UNIVERSEUM is concerned with academic
heritage in its broadest sense, including university collections, museums,
archives, libraries, botanical gardens, astronomical observatories, and
university buildings of historical, artistic and scientific significance.
We invite you to submit papers to one of the sessions
below. Papers in the thematic sessions 1, 2 and 3 need to present an argument
that can be discussed. Descriptive presentations can be submitted to the poster
session (session 4).
1. THEMATIC SESSIONS
A. Connecting Collections - general call Oral 15-min
papers followed by 5 min discussion In our times, the ways of using university
collections are constantly changing. It is a challenge to stimulate and
increase use for contemporary research, education, representation and display.
It is also a challenge to use collections across different disciplines (e.g.
natural history collections used in humanities and social
sciences, scientific instruments and illustrations used in history of design or
social history, etc). Why is this so difficult and which new angles should we
be considering?
B. Connecting the collections with research and education
Oral 15-min papers followed by 5 min discussion In the last few years we have
seen an increased demand by university boards to demonstrate the use of
collections as resources for research and education. Many university
collections that originated and then dissociated from teaching and research are
now re-connected to education and scientific investigation. Did the collections
find their way back into the labs and the curriculum? How do new ways of object
based learning and research give new meanings to collections?
2. THEMATIC IN-DEPTH SPECIAL SESSION on Connecting
library, archival and museum collections Oral 5-min papers (max. 6), followed
by in-depth debate.
Often, divisions within the university collections are
constructed:
objects with objects, books with books, documents with
documents. What are the benefits of (re)connecting them? And what about
collections that contain books and objects as well as archival documents? Also
there are so called “documentary collections” such as photography, lantern
slides, film and catalogues. These are somewhat overlooked within the academic
heritage sector, while these collections contain a wealth of information. In
this session we want to discuss how by (re)connecting these types of collections,
they can be of better use for teaching, research and for presentation to a
wider audience.
3. THEMATIC IN-DEPTH SPECIAL SESSION on Connecting the
collections to the public Oral 5-min papers (max. 6), followed by in-depth
debate.
How do you connect collections with the general public?
Around 2010, museum director Nina Simone coined the phrase “the participatory
Museum” – as a way of reconnecting with audiences. Scientific collections have
always been generated by experts outside of the public domain. Our challenge is
to use these collections in different contexts, in different eras, for
different purposes and different audiences. What role do we give ‘the general
public’ (if there is such a thing as ‘the general public’) in our activities?
Are they merely consumers of our products or do they have a stake in developing
new meaning and uses?
4. POSTER SESSION
In the poster session, we invite presentations of
scientific programs, technical issues of and around collections such as
storage, preservation and documentation, as well as descriptions of museums,
collections and other heritage. Presentations of cultural projects and
questions related to the promotion of university heritage are also welcome.
The conference language is English. Post‐graduate
students are encouraged to present. The abstract template is available at www.universeum2016.nl/call-for-papers
Abstracts for session 1, 2 & 3 need to include: i)
introduction/problematic/context, ii) main arguments/methods, iii) results or
discussion. Abstracts for posters can be more descriptive.
The identification of questions and issues for broad
in-depth debate are most welcome.
Please send abstract proposals (max. 200 words), with an
indication of the session you are submitting, plus a short biographical note
highlighting main research interests and/or field of professional experience
(max. 50 words) to the following email address before 28 February 2016:
Esther Boeles: e.boeles@uva.nl
www.universeum2016.nl
shows the preliminary program.
Accommodation details and registration will be available
by the end of January.
Program Committee:
Steph Scholten, University of Amsterdam (Chair, NL)
Marike van Roon, University of Amsterdam (NL) Esther Boeles, University of
Amsterdam (NL) Paul Voogt, Utrecht University (NL) Paul Lambers, Utrecht
University (NL) Reina de Raat, Utrecht University (NL) Marta Lourenço,
University of Lisbon (Portugal) Sébastien Soubiran, University of Strasbourg
(France) Sofia Talas, University of Padua (Italy) Bruno Vila, University of Aix-Marseille
(France) Roland Wittje, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (India)
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Roland Wittje
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian
Institute of Technology Madras Chennai 600 036 India
Phone: +91-7358517637
+91-442257-6540
e-mail: roland.wittje@gmail.com