European Commission - 7th Framework Programme European Museums and Libraries in/of the age of migrations last updated: February 2015


Travel and Museums: Rethinking the Modern Experience. 17th Berlin Roundtables on Transnationality

26-29 June 2013

Berlin, Germany | Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB)

 
 
The formation of the modern world was accompanied by a fundamental reshaping of culture itself: its agents, values, and symbols, its everyday practice and high culture rituals. Travel and museums present two key phenomena that capture the nature and extent of these transformations unlike any others. Born out of the economic, political and social upheaval of the 19th century, tourism and exhibitions gradually became part and parcel of modern life for growing strata of society. Yet, how have these practices altered in our post-industrial age with its globalized patterns of consumption and altered regimes of mobility? Who travels today and why? What defines the museum experience and wherein lies its purpose? The 17th Roundtables on Transnationality will explore these and other related questions in two international and interdisciplinary workshops.
 
For further details please see the background paper.
 
 
Conference Format
 
Based on an international essay competition, approximately 30 applicants will be invited to discuss their research, concerns and agendas with peers and prominent scholars in Berlin. The Irmgard Coninx Foundation will cover travel to and accommodation in Berlin.
 
Discussions will take place in two workshops:
  • “Places to Go: Tracing Modernity in Travel and Tourism” chaired by Anne Gorsuch (University of British Columbia) and Dean MacCannell (University of California, Davis)
     
  • “The World on Display: Museums, Exhibitions, and Gardens” chaired by Sharon Macdonald (York University) and TBA
 
The conference will be accompanied by two public evening lectures given by Martin Roth (Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London) and Ilija Trojanow (author and travel writer, Vienna).
 
 
Eligibility and Application Procedure
 
The call for papers extends to students and scholars (post doctoral candidates must have completed a Ph.D. within the previous 5 years) and practitioners (e.g. curators, travel guides, journalists). Please submit your paper (max. 3500 words including footnotes and bibliography), an abstract (max. 300 words), a narrative biography and a CV using the online submission form and the style sheets for your abstract and essay. Submission deadline is February 28, 2013. Please note that co-authorship and previously published papers will not be accepted. All participants are expected to actively participate for the entire duration of this workshop.
 
 
Irmgard Coninx Research Grant
 
Conference participants are eligible to apply for one of two fellowships (each of three months duration) to be used for research at the WZB in Berlin. For further information on the fellowship, please visit our research grant site. Conference participants will receive all necessary details on the grant application shortly before the conference.