CALL FOR PAPERS
Open Forum for Graduate Students on Archaeology's Future
sponsored by
The Graduate Student Association and
The Department of Archaeology, Boston University
November 11, 1995
The goal of this conference is simple: to bring together area graduate
students in archaeological studies to discuss their current research and talk
about issues of concern in the field. Boston University's program recently
celebrated its 10th anniversary. As the only program in New England
specifically designed as an interdisciplinary program in archaeological
studies, we feel it is the appropriate place to initiate a discussion among
graduate students of archaeology's role in scholarly communities and its
obligations to the global community writ large. As graduate students we are
in the process of becoming professionals and soon will be in positions to
effect change within the discipline. Papers presented here should consider
the direction we would like archaeology to take in order to remain a viable
discipline. The first sessions are defined loosely around three topics: the
interplay of theory and technology, interaction with the public, and
comparative colonialism. Presenters should base their discussions on current
field research. Each session will conclude with a moderated discussion. The
fourth session brings together established scholars in a moderated panel
discussion. Moderators and panelists will be announced this fall. Conference
attendees may also submit posters for display throughout the day.
Session 1
Theory and Technology: Never the Twain Shall Meet...?
The sophisticated scientific tools currently available in archaeology
are impressive. The myriad ways that we can manipulate data and the types of
information we can recover from bones, rocks, plants, ceramics, metals, and
soils were unimaginable just a few decades ago. As the acronyms representing
these techniques have multiplied, so too have the labels applied to various
theoretical persuasions within the discipline: post-processual, Marxist,
positivist, post-positivist, Annales, Braudelian, feminist, post-modern.
Despite advances in method and theory and the potential for interdisciplinary
studies, the division between scholars who develop and use high-tech methods
for data acquisition, manipulation, and description and scholars who focus on
theoretical issues has grown. Diverging paths have fragmented the community,
leading to the question of whether technology and theory are antithetical.
This session is not intended to rehash the science and humanism debate but
rather to demonstrate how the two areas can be bridged. Papers should be
modern technological studies conducted within an explicit theoretical,
interpretive framework.
Session 2
Public Interactions
Defining archaeology's role in the world includes negotiating our
interactions with the public, a label liberally applied to anyone who is not a
traditionally educated archaeologist. This session will highlight some of the
complex issues that archaeologists face when interacting with the public.
These range from educating children and working with avocational
archaeologists to the archaeology of living traditions and the control and
management of archaeological resources. Presenters should draw from their own
experiences in the field to address such issues as: How should the
archaeology of living communities be conducted? Who should control the
research design? What are our obligations as members of the academic
community and as members of the global community? What should our goals be as
educators? How can cultural resource management and cultural heritage
management contribute to these activities?
Session 3
Studies in Comparative Colonialism
There are few issues in the study of past cultures and societies that
cross-cut geographic and temporal boundaries as well as studies of
colonialism. Papers in this session should present recently collected
information on the archaeology of colonial situations. Presenters may use
specific case studies to address the topic from a number of different
perspectives, including the process of creolization or acculturation; the
transmission of beliefs, technology, or ideas; and studies of ethnicity,
class, or warfare. Presenters may also discuss the theoretical frameworks
that inform their studies of cultural transmission, acculturation, and the
formation of cultural identity, including models of domination and resistance,
cultural intensification and revitalization, and cultural ethnogenesis.
Session 4
Where do we go from here? A Panel Discussion
The panelists for this session will be drawn from a variety of
professional and academic backgrounds; each will bring to the discussion their
own view of archaeology's role in the academic community. The moderator will
pose questions to the panel and invite the audience to comment.
Abstracts may be submitted on any of the first three session topics. Papers
should not exceed 20 minutes in length, slide projection will be available.
Abstracts should be typed and no longer than 150 words. Submissions on
diskette or via email are encouraged. Deadline for submission of abstracts is
September 30, 1995. Abstracts will be reviewed and accepted based on their
suitability for the sessions as described above. Students will be notified of
their acceptance by October 15, 1995.
Your submission should contain the following information:
Title
Author
Affiliation
Address
Telephone/email
Indicate session for which you are submitting an abstract:
Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Poster
Mail abstract to Ann-Eliza Lewis, Graduate Conference Committee, Department of
Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
(email: [log in to unmask]). Questions? call 617-353-3415.
There is no registration fee for this conference.
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