Call for Papers: CHAT 2007 (Sheffield, UK)
The deadline for paper proposals for CHAT 2007, which will be held in
Sheffield in November 2007, is fast approaching (31 March 2007). The call
for papers is copied below. Papers should engage with one of the 3 themes
(broadly conceived) -- faith, hope, and charity.
All enquiries relating to CHAT 2007, the 5th annual meeting of the CHAT
group, should be sent to Jim Symonds - [log in to unmask]
Dan Hicks
--
Call for Papers: CHAT 2007
University of Sheffield, UK
Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th November 2007
Faith, Hope, and Charity: Finding Belief, Desire, and Benevolence in
Archaeologies of the Recent and Contemporary Past
Human lives are guided by faith; faith in families and friends, faith in
those that work with us or on our behalf, faith in the religious doctrines
that shape our beliefs and morals, faith in the secular institutions that
govern our day-to-day actions, and faith in the technologies that sustain
us and the material world. We keep faith, lose faith, and often doggedly
adhere to faith; faith is a belief that is held without evidence and
cannot be disproved. When faith is lost or contested we hope for change.
Hope is more than a wish, it is desire tied to expectation. Hope reveals
itself in the trivial, the everyday, the present and the momentary, it
looks to the future, but is grounded in the inheritance of the past. Hope
is also found in the most severe and seemingly hopeless circumstances,
amid poverty or violence; it is an expression of defiance, a rejection of
rationality, a rebuttal of the taken-for-granted. In some situations hope
is lost, while in others hope can be a way of thinking, a form of
intelligence, or a kind of knowledge.
Charity draws upon altruism to extend compassion to individuals beyond our
immediate kith and kin. It strives to create social cohesion, yet often
sets individuals and groups apart. Charity creates institutions, buildings
and landscapes. By its very performance charity segregates the needy and
draws a dividing line between donors and recipients, or the haves and have-
nots.
CHAT 2007 in Sheffield will explore some of the different meanings of
faith, hope, and charity in contemporary and historical archaeology (c.
AD1500-present). How can these immaterial attributes be studied through
material things? Humans routinely express immaterial ideals through
material things, but at the same time often seek to transcend their
attachment to the material world by constructing elaborate systems of
belief.
It is anticipated that papers will explore (but not be limited to) themes
arising from the colonisation of New Worlds, the clash of cultures, the
consequences of violence, archaeologies of contemporary and historic
slavery, the creation of diasporic consciousness, the spread of world
faiths, utopian communities, ideologies of improvement, archaeologies of
hospitals, workhouses, and confinement, the articulation of dissent, peace
movements, mass trespass, mechanisms of technological innovation, urban
regeneration, environmentalism, archaeologies of sport and leisure, and
counter-cultures.
Joint contributions from archaeologists and non-archaeologists are
particularly encouraged. Papers from emerging scholars, international
colleagues and from archaeologists based outside Higher Education
Institutions are welcomed. Multimedia or performed presentations are
welcome, as well as conventional paper presentations. All sessions will be
plenary.
300-500 word paper abstracts should be sent by 31st March 2007 to:
[log in to unmask]
CHAT 2007 will be hosted by Archaeological Research & Consultancy at the
University of Sheffield (ARCUS), which is part of the Department of
Archaeology.
All enquiries: [log in to unmask]
Further details: http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/conferences/chat-2007/
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