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Dear All, The deadline for paper proposals for CHAT 2007, which will be held in Sheffield in November, is fast approaching (31 March 2007). The call for papers is copied below. Papers should engage with one of the 3 themes (broadly conceived) -- faith, hope, and charity. All enquiries relating to CHAT 2007, the 5th annual meeting of the CHAT group, should be sent to Jim Symonds - [log in to unmask] DH -- Call for Papers: CHAT 2007 University of Sheffield, UK Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th November 2007 Faith, Hope, and Charity: Finding Belief, Desire, and Benevolence in Archaeologies of the Recent and Contemporary Past Human lives are guided by faith; faith in families and friends, faith in those that work with us or on our behalf, faith in the religious doctrines that shape our beliefs and morals, faith in the secular institutions that govern our day-to-day actions, and faith in the technologies that sustain us and the material world. We keep faith, lose faith, and often doggedly adhere to faith; faith is a belief that is held without evidence and cannot be disproved. When faith is lost or contested we hope for change. Hope is more than a wish, it is desire tied to expectation. Hope reveals itself in the trivial, the everyday, the present and the momentary, it looks to the future, but is grounded in the inheritance of the past. Hope is also found in the most severe and seemingly hopeless circumstances, amid poverty or violence; it is an expression of defiance, a rejection of rationality, a rebuttal of the taken-for-granted. In some situations hope is lost, while in others hope can be a way of thinking, a form of intelligence, or a kind of knowledge. Charity draws upon altruism to extend compassion to individuals beyond our immediate kith and kin. It strives to create social cohesion, yet often sets individuals and groups apart. Charity creates institutions, buildings and landscapes. By its very performance charity segregates the needy and draws a dividing line between donors and recipients, or the haves and have- nots. CHAT 2007 in Sheffield will explore some of the different meanings of faith, hope, and charity in contemporary and historical archaeology (c. AD1500-present). How can these immaterial attributes be studied through material things? Humans routinely express immaterial ideals through material things, but at the same time often seek to transcend their attachment to the material world by constructing elaborate systems of belief. It is anticipated that papers will explore (but not be limited to) themes arising from the colonisation of New Worlds, the clash of cultures, the consequences of violence, archaeologies of contemporary and historic slavery, the creation of diasporic consciousness, the spread of world faiths, utopian communities, ideologies of improvement, archaeologies of hospitals, workhouses, and confinement, the articulation of dissent, peace movements, mass trespass, mechanisms of technological innovation, urban regeneration, environmentalism, archaeologies of sport and leisure, and counter-cultures. Joint contributions from archaeologists and non-archaeologists are particularly encouraged. Papers from emerging scholars, international colleagues and from archaeologists based outside Higher Education Institutions are welcomed. Multimedia or performed presentations are welcome, as well as conventional paper presentations. All sessions will be plenary. 300-500 word paper abstracts should be sent by 31st March 2007 to: [log in to unmask] CHAT 2007 will be hosted by Archaeological Research & Consultancy at the University of Sheffield (ARCUS), which is part of the Department of Archaeology. All enquiries: [log in to unmask] Further details: http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/conferences/chat-2007/ -------------------------- contemp-hist-arch is a list for news and events in contemporary and historical archaeology, and for announcements relating to the CHAT conference group. ------- For email subscription options see: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/archives/contemp-hist-arch.html ------- For CHAT meetings see: http://www.bris.ac.uk/archanth/events/chat.html --------------------------