CALL FOR PAPERS

Wallich and Indian Natural History: 
Collection Dispersal and the Cultivation of Knowledge.

6th-7th December, 2011

The Natural History Museum, London, and The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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Abstract Submission Deadline: 30th August, 2011

This international conference will be held from the 6th-7th December,
2011, on the general theme of South Asian natural history collections
with a special emphasis on the collections of the Danish botanist
Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), a major figure in the history and
development of botany in the nineteenth century.  As superintendent of
the Calcutta Botanic Garden (1817-1846), he undertook botanical
expeditions, described new plant species, amassed a large herbarium,
collected thousands of plant specimens and commissioned local artists to
draw beautiful botanical watercolours. His work has thus been
influential in South Asian Natural History research. 

This conference will explore the challenges associated with exploiting
such collections and the interesting opportunities they provide for
interdisciplinary research. In particular, the conference will consider
the experience of the recent Wallich and Indian natural history project
as an interesting exemplar (a collaboration with the British Library and
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and funded by the World Collections
Programme).

Major South Asian natural history collections from the 18th and 19th
century are now dispersed across institutions in South Asia, Europe and
beyond. Thus, the conference will be hosted by the Natural History
Museum, London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in partnership with
the British Library. This conference plays an integral part in the World
Collections Programme's funded project "Wallich and Indian Natural
History". A full programme and travel information will be available on
the Centre for Arts and Humanities (Natural History Museum) website,
www.nhm.ac.uk/cahr, by the 30th September, 2011. 

The definition of 'South Asia', in this call for papers, refers to the
wide geographical region, as opposed to the Indian subcontinent alone. 

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Day One, 6th December
The first day of the conference will be held at the Natural History
Museum, and structured by three speaker sessions. The themes for these
sessions are: 

1) South Asian Natural History and Collections
2) Dispersal and Movement of South Asian Collections
3) Collection Exploitation and Digitisation 

Day Two, 7th December
The second day will be devoted to an opportunity to view and discuss
Wallich related material at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 

***
Conference Themes: 
We welcome papers that address the following themes:

1) South Asian Natural History and Collections
*         The life and expeditions of Nathaniel Wallich
*         Early 19th century development of Indian botanical gardens
*         Preservation and conservation of collections
*         South Asian natural history drawings as a research resource

2) Dispersal and Movement of South Asian Collections
*         The geographic movement of collections from South Asia
*         The impact of dispersal on research
*         Imperialism and the East India Company
*         Pictorial records of British India

3) Collection Exploitation and Digitisation
*         The digital humanities: challenges and opportunities
*         Digital archiving and its development
*         Modernising collection classifications
*         The impact of digitising natural history collections 

A preference will be given to papers with a focus on the Indian natural
history collections.  International submissions are welcome. 

Travel bursaries are available to speakers only. If you would like to
attend the conference as a delegate, please visit our website and follow
the links to our online ticketing system which will be made available by
the 30th September, 2011.


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Timeline:

Deadline for abstracts: 30th August, 2011 

Full conference programme: 30th September, 2011


***
Abstract Submission
Abstracts must be no more than 500 words. Please submit your abstract as
a Word file to Zara Naghizadeh ([log in to unmask]) with "SUBMISSION
WINH2011" in the subject title of your e-mail. In the body of your
e-mail, you should include the following: title, name, institution,
e-mail address, postal address, telephone number, technical requests and
a brief biography. 

For all enquiries relating to this conference, the Wallich Collection,
or CAHR activities, please e-mail Zara Naghizadeh
([log in to unmask]).

Centre for Arts and Humanities Research (CAHR) 
Natural History Museum 
Cromwell Road 
London
SW7 5BD

www.nhm.ac.uk/cahr