CALL FOR PAPERS Cultures of Anatomical Collections Leiden University 15-18 February 2012 Deadline for proposals: 16 September 2011 The conference 'Cultures of Anatomical Collections' will explore anatomical preparations and collections (preparations of human material as well as wax- and other models) as important parts of our cultural heritage. This means that we treat them in a similar way as we would examine other historical artifacts stored in today's museum. Although the history of anatomy and anatomical illustrations has been a popular topic in the history of medicine during the last decade, the history of its material remains has been somewhat neglected. And yet, in particular when taking into account recent historiographies of materiality and medical practices, it offers challenging interdisciplinary questions on the history of anatomy as a whole. Possible topics include: How do the technical details of anatomical preparations tell us about the ideas of their maker; How do ideas on beauty and perfection shape preparations; How were preparations handled and used for teaching purposes: How does the interest of non-medical audiences shape anatomical preparations? On collections as a whole we can ask: How are particular collections build up; How do decisions of curators affect the build-up of collections; How does the housing of a collection affect its outlook and popularity? For more information see: <http://www.hum.leiden.edu/research> http://www.hum.leiden.edu/research <http://www.hum.leiden.edu/research/culturesofcollecting/news-events/events.html> /culturesofcollecting/news-events/events.html or contact Rina Knoeff on [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------- Dr. Rina Knoeff Leiden University Faculty of Humanities Department of Art History P.O. Box 9515 2300 RA Leiden, NL