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Dear all, A slightly belated happy new year to you all. What unexpected and expected quirks it has already brought us. I thought it a good time send out a few details re: the workings and organization of CHAT conferences and the committee itself which may be of interest to list members and the wider CHAT community. CHAT past/future - Orkney to Amsterdam It is almost three months since the 2016 CHAT conference was held in Kirkwall, Orkney, hosted by the University of the Highlands and Islands. The conference was a coming together of many practices and perspectives on the theme of rurality, in fieldtrips, conference sessions, as well as installations, films and posters, and invitations to join interactive installations (#slowIronbridge). The conference was wonderfully collegiate, enjoyable and thought-provoking, certainly a personal favourite of mine. The extension of the conference to the journey via #MapCHAT - on Twitter and GoogleMaps - to make the journey to Orkney part of the conference and the conversation worked a treat and with that in mind.... Onwards from the centre of the world in Orkney to the centre of the world in Amsterdam. As per Jim Symond's reminder last week, the next CHAT conference will be held in Amsterdam from the 3rd - 5th of November this year, hosted by Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture (AHM), University of Amsterdam. The theme is Heritage, Art, Memory, and Agency. CHAT 2017 will explore the relationship between contemporary and historical archaeology and cultural memory narratives. Timely, as they say. We will take an interdisciplinary approach to artefacts and people, examining the agency of art, and how humans, material culture, and non-human actors interact to form identities, and to create, perpetuate, and or challenge social hierarchies, taboos, and a sense of place. Located within a UNESCO World Heritage site- the 17th century canal ring- the University of Amsterdam is the perfect location to discuss the relationship between past and present, especially regarding heritage's impact on the lived experience and how and in what ways archaeological research impacts society. More details are available on the CHAT website, and on the AHM website. Later in the year we will relaunch the CHAT map for more collaborative journeying, though we envisage faster trips. CHAT Standing Committee I wish to also re-introduce the current CHAT Standing Committee and communicate some of CHAT's projects and projections. The committee reorganised two years ago and now consists of (in no particular order): Laura McAtackney - Department of Archaeology, University of Aarhus Jeff Oliver - Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen Carolyn White - Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno Nota Pantzou - Department of Cultural Heritage Management and New Technologies, University of Patras Daniel Lee - Archaeology Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands Anna McWilliams - Södertörn University Paul Graves-Brown - UCL Institute of Archaeology Hilary Orange - Ruhr Universitat Bochum / UCL Institute of Archaeology Ţóra Pétursdóttir - Archaeology and Social Anthropology Department, University of Tromsř Sefryn Penrose - Atkins Heritage / UCL Institute of Archaeology As we settle into a new rhythm the Committee's formation is reviewed annually and we will advertise openings and opportunities that emerge. Any enquiries on this matter should be directed to me, or other members of the Committee. CHAT Online CHAT would like to thank Paul Graves-Brown for rebuilding the CHAT website: http://chat-arch.org/ The site now contains details of the Standing Committee members, archives of past conferences (bar two, please contact Paul if you are harbouring programmes for the missing years - 2006-Bristol; 2011-Boston), details of the current conference, a list of publications, the CHAT Map; and will grow as we add to it. We are also pleased to announce a new CHAT Facebook account and we encourage list members (and everyone else!) to use in order to spread details of interest to other CHATters, to communicate ideas, and to debate matters of interest to the CHAT community. In other words, to chat in the spirit of CHAT. We have deleted one former disused CHAT page, but are unable to ascertain the originator of an earlier page. We are therefore unable to delete. We would be grateful to hear from anyone who may be able to switch it off! The new page will have a number of moderators and we are grateful to Jobbe Wijnen for his help. https://www.facebook.com/chatarchaeology/ We are currently posting videos from the Orkney conference to the Facebook page weekly, so drop by to catch up if you missed it. You are also welcome to contribute any matters of interest to the page. The jiscmail list remains a forum for communication and discussion and members are encouraged to use it as such. List members are welcome to communicate in any language (provided it's civil) and need not be restricted to English. There is an existing CHAT Twitter account: @CHATArch In all, CHAT's presence and involvement online is something that we are looking at expanding and we are glad to hear from anyone with ideas or interest in becoming involved with developing this. CHAT in Person A number of social groups meet in various different cities, some of which use the list to advertise meetings. Any discussion groups that do not are welcome to do so. We are hoping to eventually link up one or two of these meetings over the web, technology and timezones permitting. We are also happy to help with or advise on setting up new groups. Future CHATs CHAT relies on individuals, institutions and organizations. We are in a fortunate position in that a number of institutions have expressed an interest in hosting CHAT in the future. Our current practice for securing future conferences is to invite interested parties to draw up a proposal to host. We have a set of criteria that we ask hosts to consider, but it is our policy (perhaps our only policy) to let each hosting group run the conference as they see fit. Although we have guidelines designed to ensure the accessibility and general smooth-running of the conference, we have found this to be a successful and enjoyable formula which has produced excellent conferences with wide-ranging relevant themes. We will shortly be contacting institutions who have already expressed an interest in hosting CHAT 2018, and sending them our criteria for hosting, and inviting them to submit a proposal to the Committee. If you have any interest in also putting in a proposal to host CHAT in 2018 or wish to discuss potential future events, please email me or another member of the Standing Committee. Our procedure for 2018 will be to consider all proposals received by March 31st. The Committee will then review them and vote on them. Proposers will be informed of our decision by the end of April. CHAT is a flexible group and we are willing to consider unusual proposals and to find ways of making good ideas work. Individuals or organizations without the backing of institutions are welcome to contact us with any ideas. We also welcome collaborative proposals between more than one institution or organization. We look forward to more wonderful CHAT events in the future and to good discussion in the meantime. Please do not hesitate to contact me (indeed us) with any questions. Yours, for and on behalf of the CHAT Standing Committee, Sefryn Penrose Chair CHAT ________________________________ This email and any attached files are confidential and copyright protected. If you are not the addressee, any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. Unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing, nothing stated in this communication shall be legally binding. The ultimate parent company of the Atkins Group is WS Atkins plc. Registered in England No. 1885586. Registered Office Woodcote Grove, Ashley Road, Epsom, Surrey KT18 5BW. A list of wholly owned Atkins Group companies registered in the United Kingdom and locations around the world can be found at http://www.atkinsglobal.com/site-services/group-company-registration-details Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. -------------------------- 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 ------- Visit the CHAT website for more information and for future meeting dates: http://www.contemp-hist-arch.ac.uk --------------------------