XVII UNIVERSEUM NETWORK MEETING
University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 9-11 June 2016
Connecting Collections
Call for Papers -- SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT
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,
director Nina Simone coined the phrase “The Participatory Museum” – as
a way of reconnecting with audiences. Scientific collections have
generally 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:[log in to unmask]
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)
--
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: [log in to unmask]
