CFP Symposium: Holding Things in Common

From: Richard Evans <[email protected]>

Dear Colleagues,

We're pleased to confirm that writer and broadcaster Dr Matthew Sweet =
will give the keynote address at the PG & ECR symposium Holding Things =
in Common. Please see below for details.

Abstracts are due Monday 17th February.

--=20
Richard Evans
MPhil/PhD Candidate in Film Studies
Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies
Birkbeck, University of London

t: 07432 086247
e: [email protected]
twitter: @revans2



(You can view and download pdf version of this call at =
http://goo.gl/AMEGjk)

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Holding things in common: the vernacular, everyday objects and memory

Sponsored by Centre for Media, Culture and Creative Practice, at =
Birkbeck, University of London.

Organised by Richard Evans, Rowan Aust, and Jessica Borge.
(If you have any questions, please email Richard at =
[email protected])

Proposal Deadline: Monday 17th February
Symposium Date: Monday 12th May, 9.20am to 5.00pm, with registration =
from 8.45am

Keynote Speaker: Dr Matthew Sweet. He is author of Inventing the =
Victorians (2001) and Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British =
Cinema (2005), which he adapted as a film for BBC Four. Among his =
broadcasting work, he is a presenter of BBC Radio 3's Night Waves and of =
BBC Radio 4's The Philosopher's Arms.

Location: Birkbeck Cinema, School of Arts, 43 Gordon Square, London, =
WC1H 0PD (Building 13 on the campus map at =
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/downloads/centrallondon.pdf. This also shows the =
nearest tube and train stations.)

We are surrounded, on all sides, by the vernacular, articulated in the =
everyday objects and places in which and through which we live, move and =
work. How, then, does the representation---in film, television, =
photography, the visual arts, literature and digital media---of =
vernacular phenomena bring us to understand the milieu we inhabit with =
these other objects? Moreover, how do vernacularised environments and =
their objects form the humans that rely upon them and how do humans form =
(and inform) those environments? And how do representations of everyday =
practices and processes function analytically/critically to show how =
these phenomena find their vernacular expression?

We understand vernacular, here, in a broad sense as it is applied across =
different disciplines including architecture, literature, geography and =
the visual arts. Its applications, whilst typically associated with "a =
language or dialect: spoken as a mother tongue by the people of a =
particular country or district", might equally apply to "a composition, =
literary work, etc. [other art works]: written or spoken in the native =
language of a particular country or people" or "an artistic form or =
feature: native or peculiar to a particular country or locality". =
(Definitions from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: OUP, =
2007.)

Submissions---research papers and posters---are requested from =
post-graduate and early career researchers working the Arts and =
Humanities. The day will consist of panels of 20-minute papers followed =
by Q&A, and a poster session. As part of the poster session, we would =
like incorporate different kinds of work-in-progress and exhibits that =
speak to the symposium's theme. (If you have any questions please email =
[email protected]).

The following questions may assist you when thinking about your =
submission, but do not in any way represent a limitation on the scope of =
topics that will be considered for the symposium.

.    How are everyday objects represented?
.    What is the significance of the vernacular in places, buildings and =
landscapes?
.    In an era characterised by obsolescence, how do different forms of =
representation remember vernacular and everyday objects and practices?
.    In architecture, planning and the organisation of space, how is the =
vernacular articulated and, in turn, how are these forms being =
represented?
.    What impacts upon the lived body do vernacular and everyday objects =
have, and how are these effects and affects represented?
.    As digital cultures continue to develop, how does the proliferation =
of screens change representations of the vernacular?
.    What role can vernacular artefacts play in reconstructing local =
histories? How do we interrogate and appropriately historicise such =
artefacts?


Submission Guidelines

For research paper proposals:
.    submit a 200 word abstract;
.    submit a 100 word bio with your abstract;
.    state your name, email address, institutional affiliation, job =
title / title of research program in the same document as your abstract =
and bio;
.    please submit all of the above in one document, MS Word or PDF =
format;
.    the filename must adhere to the pattern =
"Paper_Firstname_Surname.docx", for example, Paper_Doreen_Massey.docx;
.    email your paper proposal to [email protected], =
no later than17th February.

For poster proposals:
.    submit a 200 word description of the poster;
.    include a simple mock up of the poster with the description;
.    submit a 100 word bio with your abstract;
.    state your name, email address, institutional affiliation, job =
title / title of research program in the same document as your abstract, =
bio and mock up;
.    please submit all of the above in one document, MS Word or PDF =
format;
.    the filename must adhere to the pattern =
"Poster_Firstname_Surname.docx", for example, Poster_Donna_Haraway.docx;
.    email your poster proposal to =
[email protected], no later than17th February.
.    Please note that posters should be presented on an A1 mount board =
at the symposium.

(You can view and download pdf version of this call at =
http://goo.gl/AMEGjk)

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