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CALL FOR PAPERS The Connected Past Oxford 2018 What? An international conference on spatiotemporal archaeological and historical network research When? 6-7 December 2018 Where? University of Oxford, UnitedKingdom Keynotes? Dr. Nathalie Riche (Microsoft Research) and Dr. Matthew Peeples (Arizona State University) Deadline call forpapers? 14 May2018 More information? http://connectedpast.net Organisers? PastNet https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/themes/pastnet-network Howdo social networks evolve over very long time-scales? How did geographyconstrain or enhance the development of past social networks? These arefundamental questions in both the study of the human past and network research,yet our ability to answer them is severely hampered by the limited developmentof spatiotemporal network methods. PastNetis an inter-disciplinary network that aims to stimulate the development andapplication of such methods through networking meetings, a conference and aworkshop. Formalnetwork methods are increasingly commonly applied in a wide range ofdisciplines to study phenomena as diverse as the connectivity of neurons in thehuman brain, terrorist networks, a billion interlinked Facebook profiles, andpower grids. Despite this diversity and the decades-long tradition of usingnetwork methods in the social sciences, physics and computer science, thedevelopment of techniques for the study of spatial networks and long-termnetwork change has so far been largely neglected. Network research is alsobecoming more common in disciplines concerned with the study of past humanbehaviour: archaeology, classics and history. These disciplines have a strongtradition in exploring long-term human behavioural change and spatial phenomena,despite being forced to use fragmentary textual and material sources asindirect evidence of such phenomena. Bybringing together network researchers from a diverse range of fields such asarchaeology, computer science, history and physics, The Connected Past 2018 conference in Oxford aims tofoster cross-disciplinary exchange to push network research further. Thehistorical disciplines will contribute new spatiotemporal approaches anddatasets to network research, whereas the traditional network research disciplineswill further stimulate the critical application of network approaches to thestudy of the human past. Thisevent is part of The Connected Past series of conferences (http://connectedpast.net). It is made possible thanks tothe generous support of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk) and is organised by the TORCHresearch network PastNet (https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/themes/pastnet-network). Wewelcome submissions of abstracts on the topic of spatial and temporal networkapproaches. We particularly welcome abstracts that address the challenges posedby the use of or apply network approaches in historical/archaeological researchcontexts, welcoming case studies drawn from all periods and places. Topicsmight include, but are not limited to: - Spatial networks- Temporal networks- Archaeological network research- Historical network research- Missing and incomplete data in archaeologicaland historical networks- What kinds of data can archaeologists andhistorians use to reconstruct past networks and what kinds of issues ensue?- Formal network analysis vs qualitative networkapproaches: pros, cons, potential, limitations Pleasesubmit your abstract limited to 250 words before midnight (GMT) of May 14th2018 to [log in to unmask]