MUSEUMS AND HARMONIOUS SOCIETY

UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS AS RECORDERS OF CULTURAL AND NATURAL
COMMUNITIES WORLDWIDE

UMAC's 10th International Conference, in cooperation with CIPEG
(International Committee for Egyptology)
7th - 13th November 2010, Shanghai, China, within the ICOM General
Conference
General information:
http://www.icom2010.org.cn/icomwbs/webpages/en/index.jsp

Introduction

As university museums, we have long been charged with the responsibility
for preserving, studying, and making accessible to scholars and the
public, collections of all kinds. In many cases, our collections are the
result of decades, or even centuries, of important university research,
excavations, or expeditions. Our faculties have collected everything
from rare biological and mineral specimens to lithics and other cultural
artifacts, to fine works of art. Most often, their collections end up in
our university museums.

As a result, our artifacts, specimens, or works of art may be from
cultures that are remote from us in time and location. They also may
represent communities worldwide that may be very different from those
that surround us today. Our collections sometimes are the unique records
of life and cultures that no longer exist. They may record ways of
thinking that are very different from the ways of the 21st century.

Frequently, there are scholars and members of the public who recognize
the importance of our collections to record cultural and natural
communities worldwide. In other situations, our collections are
endangered by the fact that the public may not be interested and today's
scholars may see little value to their current research in our
collections. Younger people, obsessed by technology and social
networking may not yet recognize the value of historical collections,
and health and financial issues overwhelm some in the older generation
of the public, who might be expected to resonate with historical
collections. Yet, museums and collections are about preservation,
research, and interpretation, not about fads in scholarship or
popularity with the public.

In today’s society, there are many questions about the collections in
our university museums. What is the identity of our collections? Do they
record the cultural and natural communities worldwide? Why are our
collections important? What do they teach us in the 21st century? What
are the best ways we can preserve our collections and promote research
and public understanding of them? Do university museums and collections
have a special responsibility to preserve extinct or rare life forms,
cultures, or ways of thinking? How do we do this? What is our
responsibility to collections that today may be seen as elite, distant,
or no longer relevant? How have you dealt with these kinds of
collections, in terms of preservation, research, or presentation? What
are the special problems of these kinds of collections? How can they be
made relevant to today's students, scholars and public? These are some
of the questions we hope our conference will address.

Call for Papers

UMAC and CIPEG are currently inviting submissions for oral papers and
poster presentations focusing on the Conference’s theme Museums and
Harmonious Society or sub theme University Museums and Collections as
Recorders of Cultural and Natural Communities.

Papers may be presented in three forms:
a) 15 minute formal talks
b) 10 minute informal ‘experiences’
c) posters (to be confirmed by ICOM China)

Authors of papers will be asked to participate in a discussion session
following the presentation. The language of the conference will be English.

If you would like to offer a paper, please send an abstract (in English)
to: Ing-Marie Munktell, Chair of the 2010 Review Committee,
[log in to unmask], and cc: Cornelia Weber, UMAC Chair,
[log in to unmask]

Abstracts will be accepted electronically until March 31, 2010. If you
wish to present a paper please supply us with the following information:

- Title of submitted paper
- Type of paper: 15 minutes, 10 minutes or poster
- Name(s) of Author(s)
- Affiliation(s) & full address(es)
- Email, phone & fax of corresponding author
- Abstract in English (not to exceed 300 words)
- Support equipment required

All submissions will be considered by the Review Committee who will
assess each abstract for relevance to the theme and clarity of ideas and
expression.

Authors of papers accepted will be asked to give UMAC the right to
publish the paper on UMAC’s website and in the conference proceedings
University Museums and Collections Journal 4/2011
(http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/umacj/).

Further information will be provided on UMAC’s website:
http://umac.icom.museum

Cornelia Weber, UMAC Chair, [log in to unmask]
Claire Derriks, CIPEG Chair, [log in to unmask]

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