Dear all,
I would like to announce a
call for papers for the following conference. For further information regarding the conference,
please either visit the conference website at
http://www.siu.edu/~cai/VS.2004.htm or contact me at
[log in to unmask]
Thank you,
Kathy Twiss
We Are What We Eat:
Archaeology, Food, and Identity
2004 Visiting Scholar
Conference
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
http://www.siu.edu/~cai/VS.2004.htm
March 12 - 13,
2004
This conference will focus on the intricate relationship between
food and identity. Papers will concentrate on the cultural roles and contexts
of food, discussing how tastes, taboos, food procurement strategies, modes of
cooking and dining, and discard habits are intertwined with the construction
and maintenance of individual and group identities. The importance of
special-occasion meals such as feasts need not be discounted, but participants
are encouraged to consider the social significance of daily consumption
practices.
This conference aims to
bring together archaeologists working in a wide range of time periods and
areas, and with a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches.
Scholars working in fields outside of but relevant to archaeology
(sociocultural anthropology, sociology, history, etc.) are also invited to
submit abstracts.
Potential Topics:
ÿ Theoretical approaches to the study of food and
foodways
ÿ Food and social status, ethnicity,
prestige, gender, age, role, religion, class, etc.
ÿ The social and labor roles associated with various
types of food production, preparation, and consumption
ÿ The limits placed by ecological and biological
constraints on the expression of identity through food
ÿ The effect of archaeologists' own identities on
interpretations of foodways (e.g.: to what extent is subjectivity an issue? If
it does affect interpretations, how?)
ÿ
How different facets of identity may be expressed at different stages of food
production and use (for example: gender may be expressed in food procurement
and preparation practices, but not in actual consumption
habits)
ÿ The extent to which culturally
specific food patterns may be generalized across societies
ÿ The extent to which archaeologists working in different
areas and time periods can reasonably expect to explore identity through food
practices (for example: can prehistorians address ethnicity? Can
hunter-gatherer archaeologists discuss status?)
This is not intended to
be an exclusive list, and contributors are encouraged to explore other aspects
of food and identity as well.
Submissions:
Please send an
abstract of 150-250 words to [log in to unmask] by November 1, 2003. Pre-submission inquiries are welcome. Abstracts
will be reviewed by a committee of SIU archaeologists and papers will be
selected for the conference by Dec. 1, 2003. Papers presented at the
conference will be the basis for a peer-reviewed volume published by the
Center for Archaeological Investigations in its Occasional Papers
series. (See
http://www.siu.edu/~cai/Flier.html for the most recent volume).
Please contact
Katheryn Twiss ([log in to unmask]) for further information.
--
Dr. Katheryn C. Twiss
Visiting Scholar
Center for
Archaeological Investigations
Faner 3479
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale
Carbondale, Illinois 62901-4527
(618)
453-5032
[log in to unmask]
