Call for Papers: The paths of objects

A Call for Papers for the workshop "The Paths of Objects" at the German Maritime Museum / Leibniz Institute of Maritime History in Bremerhaven in the framework of the series

"Young Forum for Collection and Object Research". Date: 28.9. - 30.9.2023

The focus of the eighth edition of the Young Forum 2023 is the "paths of objects". Every object in the museum has a path behind it, and every object in the collection is in turn moved within the collection itself. Objects become things of knowledge in the first place through certain practices. With the paths of the objects, emotional and intellectual interpretations of the objects are passed on, lost, or reinterpreted. Every object journey is therefore also a knowledge journey. However, objects also served and still serve as symbolic capital: they were and are used as currency in exchange for prestige, political power or scientific power of disposal. In addition, there are also "hidden paths" of objects that often lie at cross-purposes to obvious patterns of interpretation. This can also figuratively mean a 'journey' of the object in the context of its digital capture. In addition to open and hidden paths, the focus can also be on losing, forgetting, and destroying, and thus inquire into the memorial function inherent in objects.

Sensory journey or concrete history of transportation - we would like to bring methodological approaches into dialogue with each other, linking object and journey histories and reflecting on the concrete role of being in motion for our knowledge of objects.

PhD students from all disciplines are invited to present their current research projects and discuss them in an interdisciplinary forum. Participants are expected to prepare their contributions and the results of the discussion for a joint publication. The conference papers will be published by the Gesellschaft für Universitätssammlungen e.V. in Open Access format (edoc.hu-berlin.de/junges_forum).

We ask for abstracts of no more than 3000 characters for a 20-minute presentation, as well as a concise CV with keywords on research interests. Deadline is May 1, 2023, please email submissions to Prof. Dr. Ruth Schilling: schilling@dsm.museum (subject: Young Forum). Travel and accommodation expenses will be reimbursed.

The workshop will be held in cooperation with the University of Oldenburg and University of Bremen at the German Maritime Museum/Leibniz Institute for Maritime History in Bremerhaven.

The "Young Forum for Collection and Object Research" is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. The workshop series offers a platform for young scholars to network with each other across disciplines and discuss issues of object and collection-related research together with experts from different fields.