Introducing: Museums Alive!
Tuesday 4 — Wednesday 5 November 2014
A Two-Day Interdisciplinary
Postgraduate Conference hosted by the School of Museum Studies, University of
Leicester, in partnership with Migration Museum Project
This conference seeks to explore the notion of museums as living organisms
and the multiple questions that emerge from this context. Museums, like living beings, do not live in
isolation, rather, they are embedded in complex eco systems. Museums are occupied
and given life by people. They are constantly evolving, directly affected by
the changes around them, as well as effecting and acting as catalysts for change.
Museums Alive! — Exploring how museums behave
like living beings, organized in partnership with Migration Museum Project,
will be the sixth conference developed by the PhD community at the School of
Museum Studies, University of Leicester, and follows last year's highly
successful Museum Metamorphosis conference.
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:
Conscious Living
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Open
System
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Organic Evolution
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How do museums form their identity both internally and externally?
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How do museums as ‘organisms’ coexist and relate to the wider eco system?
How do we define what that system is?
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How are museums born and do museums get sick or die? Do they mutate? How
can we portray a museum’s life cycles?
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How do museums facilitate the creation of identities, and how in turn
are museums’ identities created by the communities they serve?
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How do museums migrate in order to adapt to the environment, not only
in ways of living but also in ways of thinking?
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How can museums use bodily ‘senses’ to respond to, capture and
integrate with their visitors and the public?
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How might we define living in the context of the museum?
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How do museums collaborate and compete with different types of ‘species’?
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Should museums remain neutral or express emotions?
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How do museums behave in reaction to perceived threats and/or
opportunities of change?
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How can museums become laboratories or spaces for experimentation?
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If museums actively and emotionally participate in social issues, what
are the implications that need to be considered?
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How can museums ensure that internal and external (the public)
relations are balanced and appropriate?
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How can museums become adaptive within in a defined structure? How and
why do museums evolve?
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WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
The conference team welcomes all postgraduate students, early career
researchers and practitioners 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 creative and alternative presentational
styles, alongside the traditional paper. Workshops, panel debates, creative
writing, films, installations, visual creations, displays and ignite
presentations will all be considered.
·
Presenters of
traditional papers will have 20 minutes to deliver their paper (ending with a
30 minutes Q & A with the whole session panel).
·
Workshops, panel
debates and other alternative formats can either last 30, 45 or 60 minutes
(please specify on submission proposal).
·
This year we are also
inviting proposals for ignite rapid fire presentations, a great opportunity to
spend 5 minutes presenting about a particular project, area of work or piece of
research.
ABSTRACTS AND SESSION SUBMISSIONS
Abstracts and session submissions should include the
following information:
1)
title of abstract or session
2)
author(s)' name and contact information (including
twitter handle)
3)
biography (max. 100 words)
4)
format and style of presentation
5)
abstract or session description
of no more than 250 words
6)
optional: up to two jpeg images,
each under 2MB, to complement your proposal
Abstracts should be sent by email to Sipei Lu, Conference Secretary,
by midnight GMT on 20 June 2014, to msphdconf@gmail.com.
Successful participants will be notified by mid July 2014.
COST AND PAYMENT
Student
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Practitioner
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Early bird fee (until 31 August)
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£45
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£55
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Full fee (after 1 September)
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£65
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£75
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Lunch and refreshments will be provided on both days. In addition,
there will be optional social events and museum visits.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.le.ac.uk/museums-alive
Twitter: @msphdconf
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