Dear All,
Would anyone be interested in submitting a paper for the Museum
Metamorphosis conference? The deadline is 31 May. It would be interesting
to have a representation at the event. Do get in touch with the office if
we can help.
Regards,
Daria
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Daria Cybulska - Programme Manager, Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 207 065 0994
+44 7803 505 170
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Museum Metamorphosis
The Adaptable and Changing Museum
Tuesday 5— Wednesday 6 November 2013
A Two-Day Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference hosted by the
School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, in partnership with
Leicester Arts & Museums Service
This conference seeks to explore the phenomenon of metamorphosis — or
change — in the museum. Museums are often perceived to arrest time, or go
beyond it, yet they are not fixed or static entities. It has often been
claimed that in order to become meaningful, museums should change by
addressing and responding to the needs of society. Is this the case? Museum
Metamorphosis —The Adaptable and Changing Museum will be the fifth
conference organised by the PhD community at the School of Museum Studies,
University of Leicester, and follows last year's highly successful Museum
Utopias.
AIMS AND TOPICS
We aim to discuss and share ideas on some of the most seminal issues in
museums today. Papers addressing the following themes and questions are
encouraged, but we also welcome new suggestions and creative proposals.
• How might we define metamorphosis in the context of the museum?
• Metamorphosis is a concept that resonates across many disciplines,
from biology and geology to literary studies. How can such different
conceptions of metamorphosis be harnessed in order to consider change in
the museum?
• How do museums deal with resistance to change, both internally and
externally?
• What are some of the opportunities and/or risks arising from
constant and never-ending change in the museum?
• Historically, how has the museum changed from its early inception?
• What organisational changes have museum institutions implemented,
and how has the museum profession responded to these?
• How have digital and other technological trends impacted upon the
way we conceive museums and the ways in which museums relate to their
communities?
• Have collections and displays been made relevant for contemporary
audiences? If so, how? If not, why not?
• How have museological concepts such as learning, interpretation and
collection adapted to new contexts?
• How, and to what extent, are new trends in exhibition-making
creating the museum anew? How have museum-making processes changed?
• How can we describe changing understandings of museum space?
• How has our knowledge of the complex range of visitor experiences
shifted? What impact has this had?
• How are museums used to create identity on different levels, and
how are museums' identities created in turn by the communities they serve?
• To what extent are museums an instrument for social change, and to
what extent is change forced upon them?
• How can museums explore and reflect contemporary discussions in
society?
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
The conference team welcomes all postgraduate students and early career
researchers, as well as professionals who are interested in and researching
topics related to the museum field. All disciplines and nationalities are
invited to participate.
FORMAT AND STYLE OF PRESENTATIONS
We welcome and encourage alternative presentational styles, besides the
traditional paper. Workshops, panel debates, creative writing and film,
installations, visual creations and displays will all be considered.
Presenters will have 20 minutes (plus 10 minutes Q & A) to deliver their
papers. Workshops and panel debates will be up to 60 minutes in duration.
ABSTRACTS
Abstracts should include the following information:
1) title of abstract
2) author(s)' name and contact information
3) biography (max. 100 words)
4) format and style of presentation
5) abstract of no more than 250 words
6) optional: up to two jpg images, each under 2MB, to complement your
proposal
Abstracts should be sent by email to Sarah Hughes, Conference Secretary, by
midnight GMT on 31 May 2013, to msphdconf(a)gmail.com.
Successful participants will be notified by early July 2013.
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