Dave Gadsby and I are interested in organizing a session on archaeologies of
the contemporary past for the 2008 SHA meetings. We are seeking papers that
consider the challenges and benefits of archaeologies of the recent past.

*The Archaeology of Ten Minutes Ago: Material Histories of the Burgeoning
Past and the Vanishing Present*

The contemporary material world changes at a breathtaking rate. Landscapes
rise and are transformed in a matter of a few years, and whole cities can be
nearly destroyed in a matter of days. Rural and urban spaces are continually
occupied, abandoned, and re-configured. Developers and consumers destroy and
transform "historic" buildings, landscapes and archaeological sites even as
the contemporary demand for spaces fluctuates. * *It is becoming
increasingly important to understand how changes in the recent past are
connected to contemporary conditions.  As archaeologists consider the
significance of the material culture of the 20th century, we work at the
perilous and unstable border between past and present.

Through a series of case studies we hope to ask: Why should archaeologists
concern themselves with the very recent past? What do we have to contribute
to the topic that other disciplines thus far have not? Should archaeologies
of recent history attempt to bound or define the domain that we call the
past? If so, where do the boundaries lie, and how do we conceptualize them
in a way that is useful for the discipline? And how does engagement with the
recent past affect the archaeologist's relationship with contemporary
communities, rights-holders and stakeholders?

Please submit 100 word abstracts to Jodi (* [log in to unmask]* ) or Dave
([log in to unmask]).


-- 
Jodi Barnes
Doctoral candidate, Anthropology
American University
Washington, DC 20016
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