Workshop Announcement and Call for Papers
'Technologies of Polar Travel' Workshop
5-6 September 2007
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Scott Polar Research Institute Museum
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
Abstract Submission Deadline: Sunday, 15 July 2007
For further information, please go to:
http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/events/workshops/polartravel/index.html
or contact:
Heather Lane
Scott Polar Research Institute Museum
Phone: +1223-336-557
E-mail: workshop [at] spri.cam.ac.uk
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Scott Polar Research
Institute at University of Cambridge announce the AHRC 'Technologies of
Polar Travel' Workshop on 5-6 September 2007.
'Technologies of travel' are important for museums. They communicate to
a wide range of public audiences a sense of narrative, excitement, and
technical skill that play a large part in conveying the aura or even
'cult status' surrounding travel and exploration. But these technologies
are problematic for curators, collectors, and academics alike. Objects
like snow tractors, skis, provisions, and writing implements are
traditionally organized as part of a vague 'Miscellaneous' category,
seeming anomalous and individual, rather than fitting into existing,
recognizable classification systems. This workshop will bring together
curators, collectors, and academics to discuss new ways to
conceptualize, organize, classify and display these kinds of material
artifacts.
The workshop is intended to attract a cross-disciplinary audience from
researchers and research students working in history and philosophy of
science, history (including history of art), geography, and
anthropology, as well as curators wishing to explore the museological
significance of the artifacts under discussion and the difficulties
inherent in their classification. Participants will be encouraged to
consider the multiple cultural resonances of the technologies of travel,
the role of technologies in redefining mobility, spaces of exploration,
and the idea of polar field stations, not only as points of departure
but as culturally representative entities.
Attendance at the workshop is free, however, participants are requested
to register by contacting:
E-mail: workshop [at] spri.cam.ac.uk
For further information and abstract submission instructions, please go
to:
http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/events/workshops/polartravel/index.html