Symposium Call for Papers, 2025: Memory and Material Culture

All submissions were due Friday, March 7, 2025 at 11:59pm ET via this Google Form

Symposium Date:  Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 11am ET (Via Zoom) 

On behalf of the Coalition of Master’s Scholars on Material Culture (CMSMC), the Symposium Committee is circulating a call for papers for our 2025 symposium around the theme of “Memory and Material Culture.” 

Scholar Tiya Miles has written, “Things become bearers of memory and information, especially when enhanced by stories that expand their capacity to carry meaning.” Material culture is intimately connected with memory, both individual and collective. Family heirlooms make one recall a deceased loved one, a souvenir serves as a memento from a trip, or an artifact can become a mnemonic device for an important era of a community’s history. Objects are tangible reminders of the past, and shape our thinking about the present and future. Human memory may fade while things live on. One single artifact may represent multiple memories and meanings. 

“Memory and Material Culture” asks how do objects embody memory? How can this change over time? What stories are embedded within everyday items? Do these material memories recover forgotten history? Do they align with existing collective narratives? How does cultural heritage manifest through tangible objects? How do power dynamics influence the creation and interpretation of material culture? What is the interaction of memory and materiality- do objects themselves have a memory? 

The growing scholarship on the interplay of material culture and memory offers new avenues to explore the creation, interaction, and interpretation of artifacts. “Memory and Material Culture” encourages scholars from a variety of disciplines to consider how remembering, or forgetting, interacts with tangible things. From archaeology to art history, performance studies to ethnic studies, we welcome work from diverse fields to explore material culture and memory’s interrelation. 

We accept submissions from master’s scholars (those earning or possessing a master’s degree). CMSMC is also open to the work of PhD students who are in their coursework and working towards an MA in their program. PhD candidates and higher are not eligible.

CMSMC welcomes papers discussing material culture from history, archaeology, art history, museum studies, and other related fields. Various types of work are welcome, including works in progress, book chapters, interdisciplinary approaches, exhibitions, and more. Proposals for the symposium will be accepted until Friday, March 7, 2025 at 11:59pm ET. 

Submission Guidelines

In order to submit a proposal to CMSMC, you will need to provide an abstract (up to 350 words), a partial bibliography, and a CV. Please submit materials via this Google Form (https://forms.gle/jB1pjV7SUhs3WQ7dA). All submissions should be cited in the Chicago Manual of Style. Applicants will be notified of acceptance or rejection during the week of March 17, following a review of all submissions.   

Criteria

All pieces for the 2025 symposium must revolve around the theme Memory and Material Culture. The presentation should be roughly, but not exceed, 15 minutes and have a visual component (Powerpoint, Google Slides, etc.); this equates to roughly a 2,000 - 2,500 word paper (or 10 pages double spaced). 

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:  

  • Personal memory: the memory of biography/individuals 

  • Collective memory: the memory of history, shared information tied to group identity

  • Popular memory: how the public remembers and views certain events, and objects associated with them, including pop culture artifacts

  • Nationalism and symbolic objects 

  • Wartime artifacts, trauma, grief, and recovery 

  • Landscapes as repositories for collective memory 

  • Forgetting, neglecting, and detachment from memories and objects

  • “Stolen” memory- expulsion, exclusion, manipulation, and propaganda 

  • Collection and recollection: regaining memories through material culture

  • Affect theory, memory, and “scriptive” things

  • Nostalgic artifacts and the desire to “return to the past”

  • Museum display practices and the role of memory in cultural heritage

  • Knowledge and memory: generational knowledge, craft and memory, Indigenous knowledge and memory

  • False memory: myth-making, deception, illusion, and delusion

  • Psychology and memory; cognitive science and related objects 

The mission of the Coalition of Master’s Scholars on Material Culture (CMSMC) is to provide a platform for emerging master’s scholars, who are at a crucial point in their academic careers, to publish their work and contribute to the expanding field of Material Culture. CMSMC seeks to foster interdisciplinary discussions and address a diverse pool of topics. The Coalition desires to amplify emerging voices who can bring fresh and diverse perspectives to the field.

CMSMC looks forward to receiving proposals in response to the call, and is happy to respond to inquiries from interested parties. Questions may be emailed to admin@cmsmc.org. Please visit our website, cmsmc.org, for more information about the 2025 symposium and registration.