Material Culture in an Increasingly Digital World
Symposium Date: Saturday, April 10, 2021 (Via Zoom Webinar)
10:00am - 12:45 pm EDT
As the world around us transitions into an increasingly digital environment, the way we interact with material culture becomes less physical and more virtual. How does this affect the field as a whole? How do we adapt from a hands-on practice to an interface-guided experience? And how does this change the definition of ‘material culture’?
Symposium Call for Papers (Spring 2021)
On behalf of the Coalition of Master’s Scholars on Material Culture, the Symposium Committee is circulating a call for papers for their Spring 2021 online symposium, Material Culture in an Increasingly Digital World. As the world around us transitions into an increasingly digital environment, the way we interact with material culture becomes less physical and more virtual. How does this affect the field as a whole? How do we adapt from a hands-on practice to an interface-guided experience? And how does this change the definition of ‘material culture’?
CMSMC welcomes papers discussing Material Culture grounded in historical, archaeological, art historical, and/or museum studies approaches. We are drawing from various types of works, including works in progress, book chapters, interdisciplinary approaches, and more. Proposals for the symposium will be accepted until March 1st, 2021. The symposium will consist of 5 presentations from emerging scholars and one keynote speaker.
Submission Guidelines
In order to submit a proposal to CMSMC, you will need to provide an abstract (up to 350 words) as well as a partial bibliography, and CV. Please email these materials to admin@cmsmc.org, with a subject line that reads as follows “last name_submission_symposium.” All submissions must be cited in the Chicago Manual of Style. Your submissions will be responded to once they are reviewed by a member of our team. Should your paper be accepted, you will be contacted by the head of our Symposium committee, who will discuss logistics with you.
Criteria
All pieces for the 2020 symposium must revolve around the theme Material Culture in an Increasingly Digital World. The presentation must be up to 15 minutes with visuals, which is roughly a 2,000 - 2,500 word piece (or 10 pages double spaced).
Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Digitizing Archives and Collections, access to online collections, copyright in the digital age, paywalls vs free content, open access, considering repatriation and digital collection
Digital Curation, what are best practices for creating virtual exhibits or archives involving material culture?, how do museum visitors “curate” material culture through social media
Virtual Tours and Tour Guides, how to create tour narratives digitally, public history and museum education via the web, facilitating online learning through digitized objects and object collections
Digital “Material Culture,” how do we define material in a world that lacks physical interaction?, digital media as material culture, artificiality in the digital sphere, technology as material culture (hardware, software, etc.), the interaction of social media and material culture
Technology in the Physical Field, arc-GIS, satellite mapping, artifact scanning, 3D Printing, making digital models
Accessibility, curating an accessible experience in a digital sphere, how does virtual help or hinder accessibility?
Tangibility, why tangible artifacts are still important, how scholars still need/utilize physical objects in a digital virtual world.
CMSMC looks forward to receiving proposals in response to the call, and is happy to respond to inquiries from interested parties. Questions may be addressed to the Executive Board - Hope Elizabeth Gillespie, Sydney Sheehan, and MaryKate Smolenski- via e-mail at admin@cmsmc.org. Please visit our website, cmsmc.org, for more information about the Spring 2021 Symposium and registration.