[ecrea] Hands-on History Feb 2016 CFP

HANDS-ON HISTORY: EXPLORING NEW METHODOLOGIES FOR MEDIA HISTORY RESEARCH
(can also be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/HandsOn16)

8—10 February 2016
Geological Society, London

Confirmed keynote speakers:

* Prof. Susan J. Douglas (Professor of Communication Studies, University 
of Michigan)
* Dr. Gerard Alberts (Associate Professor of the History of Mathematics 
and Computing, University of Amsterdam)

“Media Scholars and Amateurs of All Countries and Disciplines, Hands-on!” *

Recent years have witnessed a growing turn to experimental historical 
research in the history of media technologies. In addition to archival 
investigation and oral history interviews, historians and enthusiasts 
are increasingly uncovering histories of technology through hands-on 
exercises in simulation and re-enactment. Equipment lovingly restored by 
amateurs, or preserved by national heritage collections, is being placed 
in the hands of the people who once operated it, provoking a new and 
rich flood of memories.

The turn to experimental research raises profound methodological 
questions. The unreliability of narrative memory is well proven, but 
what do we know about the limits of haptic and tactile memory? To what 
extent is it possible to elicit useful memories of technological arrays 
when parts of those arrays are missing or non-functional? How do the 
owners of old equipment shape the historical narratives which are 
stimulated by their collections?

Hands-On History is a colloquium designed to facilitate discussion of 
these issues between historians, users, curators and archivists (amateur 
and professional) who are making use of and taking part in these 
historical enquiries. In addition to a series of keynote presentations 
by leading scholars in the field, the event will also include 
stimulating workshops on specific focus areas. While the focus of the 
event will be on media technologies, broadly defined, we invite 
contributions from other areas of technology and from other academic 
disciplines.

This colloquium aims to make a decisive intervention in this emerging 
area of academic interest. It is part of the ADAPT project, a European 
Research Council funded project investigating the history of television 
production technologies through hands-on simulations. Research conducted 
by ADAPT will form a key case study for the colloquium.

In order to facilitate productive discussion, numbers will be limited. 
It is expected that papers presented will form the basis of an edited 
collection focused on hands-on historical research.
We invite proposals for research presentations, panel discussions, and 
historical equipment demonstrations. Presentations may take whatever 
format is most appropriate, and we welcome approaches which deviate from 
the traditional 20 minute lecture.

Please send a brief proposal to (nick.hall /at/ rhul.ac.uk) by 28 August 2015.

* Andreas Fickers and Annie van den Oever, “Experimental Media 
Archaeology: A Plea for New Directions” 2013

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