CfP: ARTEFACTS meeting, 20-22 Oct 2019, Edinburgh

The National Museums Scotland Science & Technology Department and Surgeons Hall announce that the next meeting of ARTEFACTS will be held in Edinburgh, 20–22 October 2019.

ARTEFACTS is an association of historians of science and technology, mostly in museums and academic institutions, who share the goal of promoting the use of objects in historical studies. See www.artefactsconsortium.org.

The theme of the 2019 meeting (the 24^th since the first in 1996) is DIVERSITY, and we encourage 20-minute papers or short presentations concerning both philosophical and concrete examples of how an explicit attention to diversity can enrich both our understanding and our practice in museums. We characterize ‘diversity’ broadly, encompassing both objects and people; but all proposals should have an explicit focus on the material culture of science, technology and/or medicine.

Examples might include, but are not limited to:

• Diversity of makers, scientists and users of artefacts.
• Materiality and diversity
• ‘Hidden’ (or deleted) histories within material culture.
• Excluded artefacts: missing objects, objects not collected, deaccessioned objects.
• Diversity of scientific, technological and medical collections; and of objects and materials within collections.
• Diverse (or not) audiences for artefacts.

Abstracts for 20-minute papers should be 100–200 words; abstracts for short presentations should be 50–100 words. They should be accompanied by a 50-word author biography and sent to ST.enquiries@nms.ac.uk by 3 June 2019.