CfP: Museums and Their Publics at Sites of Conflicted History

Warsaw, Poland

The organizers of the conference are currently welcoming proposals for the international conference Museums and Their Publics at Sites of Conflicted History.

Museums of history face a particular challenge in societies that have experienced conflict and violence in recent memory and radical geopolitical and ideological change, not to mention socio-economic and technological challenges. Multiple and rival historical perspectives characterize the dynamics of public memory in these societies. Differing narratives of the past are told either in parallel, or appear in open conflict with each other, while memories still hidden and silent await their midwives for their public articulation at the right juncture.

The organizers would like to invite both scholars in various disciplines (anthropology, sociology, history, memory studies, museology, political science), and museum professionals, including curators and museum educators, to join the discussion on the role of museums in negotiating contested histories in relation to their publics.

Abstracts of max. 300 words should be sent along with a bio to: GEOP@polin.pl.

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 15 September 2016.

For the full call for papers and additional information, please contact: GEOP@polin.pl.

The conference is organized by POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Birkbeck University of London, Concordia University, New York University, and the University of Warsaw.

Photo: Magdalena Starowieyska, Dariusz Golik – Museum of the History of Polish Jews, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36406115