This is a good conference, if you plan to be in the UK next fall. Funds are
not available for travel, but some assistance with accomodation *might* be
available if needed. Please respond directly to the person noted at the end
of the message.

Carol McDavid

* * * * *

Subject: 5th CAMBRIDGE HERITAGE SEMINAR -- CALL FOR PAPERS


With apologies for cross-posting.

CALL FOR PAPERS

5TH CAMBRIDGE HERITAGE SEMINAR

MAKING THE MEANS TRANSPARENT:
EXPLORING RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES IN HERITAGE STUDIES

A one-day discussion-seminar
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research,
University of Cambridge, UK
Saturday 16th November 2002

Organisers:
J. Carman, M.-C. Garden, Y. Nakanishi, H. Soderland, and M.L.S. Sørensen

Recently, much of the discussion in heritage studies has been focussed on
establishing its theoretical foundation. In this focus, the role of
methodology has been forgotten, and the crucial link between data and
theory has been neglected.  As a consequence, there has been little
dialogue about how our understanding of heritage is constructed.
Methodology has become assumed rather than assessed, and little effort is
spent in analysing how it affects and dictates the aims and premises of our
research.

If methodology becomes the 'weakest link' in the analytical process, our
understanding of heritage will be severely undermined. Key questions that
must be discussed include how different methods are used to arrive at our
understanding of heritage, and how different interpretations may be
constructed from the same data. As more mature and diversified studies of
heritage emerge it is becoming ever more important that the means through
which we gain our insights are made explicit and open to scrutiny.

This seminar will aim to clarify what we recognise as data and which
methods we may bring to bear in their analysis. Data ranges from legal
texts to landscapes to people's motivations. Methods include 'techniques'
such as interviews, questionnaires, participant observation, text analysis
and 'people watching'.

This one-day discussion-seminar is part of an ongoing project of defining
heritage studies as a specific cultural phenomenon and as a subject for
research. We seek to consolidate heritage studies as a distinct area of
investigation by reviewing a particular aspect of current research. To do
so, we invite offers of papers of 20 minutes duration from all disciplines,
focussing on the issues outlined above.

Places are limited to a maximum of 60. A final programme and registration
will be available in early October.

Those wishing to propose a paper should send an abstract of c.200 words by
31 May to:
Yumiko Nakanishi
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
Email: <[log in to unmask]>