[NB: Several papers address the history of science and/or health]
WORKSHOP ON THE GRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF CHILDHOOD, 1760-1914
Durham University
15 April 2016
OBJECTIVES
The history of childhood has become an important field of study in recent years. One of its exciting characteristics is that it attracts researchers from a rich variety of disciplines, including the humanities, the social sciences and the human
sciences. Consequently, the history of childhood emotion, puberty, selfhood, health and agency has become more visible, both inside and outside the academy. Yet, with the rising popularity of childhood history comes a growing concern about the kinds of evidence
that can be used to reconstruct the lives of children. This concern is increasingly intimated by scholars who research the material and visual foundations of childhood. They point out that many histories of pre-twentieth-century childhood often fail to engage
directly with evidence that was made or (conclusively) used by girls and boys, either in specialised settings or on a daily basis.
This workshop seeks to develop and extend the material and visual history of childhood by focusing on the kinds of graphic evidence that was made or used by children during the 18th and 19th centuries. The notion of ‘graphic’ will be interpreted
widely to mean the instruments, skills or materials used to manually represent knowledge on paper (or similar forms of media) through writing or drawing. The papers will discuss how graphic artefacts can be used as childhood evidence and/or to what extent
graphic materials and techniques can be used to historicise how children experienced the world through the act of making or using an object. To keep the discussion focused, each speaker is invited to concentrate on a specific graphic genre of her choosing,
and to consider how the genre can be used to analyse the legitimacy and efficacy of current methods used to reconstruct the history of childhood.
SPEAKERS
Dr Matthew Daniel Eddy
Department of Philosophy
Durham University
Prof Kathryn Gleadle
Faculty of History
Oxford University
Prof Matthew Grenby
School of Literature, Language & Linguistics
Newcastle University
Dr Barbara Gribling
Department of History
Durham University
Dr Andrea Immel
Cotsen Children’s Library
Princeton University
Dr Siân Pooley
Faculty of History
Oxford University
Prof Barbara Wittmann
Professorin für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Humbolt University, Berlin
COMMENTATORS
Dr Rebecca Gowland
Department of Archaeology
Durham University
Dr Lutz Sauerteig
School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health
Durham University
SPONSORS
This event is sponsored by Durham University’s Institute of Advanced Study, the Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies, the Centre for Visual Arts and Culture, and the Department of Philosophy.
WORKSHOP ATTENDANCE
The venue of the workshop is currently being finalised. There will most likely be a small attendance fee (around L15). Registration details will be circulated in early January.
ORGANISER