CHAT 2012: The CHAT Olympiad - celebrating 10 years of contemporary and historical archaeology

Location: Kings Manor (University of York)

Dates: 16-18 November 2012

Cost: £40 (waged); £20 (unwaged) to cover conference sessions, teas and coffees

Download the poster here: CHAT 2012 Conference Poster (PDF , 286kb)

Those who remember CHAT 2003 (Bristol) will recall a radical new event on the conference calendar – a small, plenary and multi-disciplinary conference compared by some to the early days of TAG. Young researchers shared the stand with established scholars, from archaeology, history, anthropology, cultural studies, art history and beyond. The conference has continued every year, in the same vein, attracting a diverse range of contributors, and always (with the exception of 2011) plenary. But while archaeology has remained a central theme, the nature and the character of that archaeology has evolved, always provoking its critics to ask whether this is archaeology, or rather the proper business of archaeologists. Much has happened to archaeology over the last decade, and perhaps ― in some small part ― CHAT has contributed to the change.

Call for Papers: Only 3 Weeks to Go!

In 2012 we are in reflective mood, looking back on a decade of contemporary and historical archaeology, looking forward to the next decade, and celebratory of all that is good (and relevant) about contemporary and historical archaeology. Papers that explore any aspect of the developing field are sought, and practitioners new to CHAT are encouraged to take part ― all the more so if their work challenges existing ideas. Presentations of unconventional format are especially welcome ― performance for example, or conversations, and papers are invited from early career professionals and researchers as well as from established scholars.

Please send Abstracts/Ideas to: CHAT2012@events.york.ac.uk

Deadline for Submissions: 5 pm, Friday 1 June 2012

Registration

Please check back here nearer the time for details on how to register to attend the conference. If you have any questions in the meantime, please e-mail the committe using the address above.

Itinerary

The agenda for the conference is still being developed.

Alternative Book Sale

There will be a book sale of second hand books at the conference, so all conference attendees are invited to bring with them any books they no longer have use for. Proceeds from the sale will go towards funding archaeology and heritage related field trips and volunteer experiences for homeless people in York.

About CHAT

The CHAT group was established in February 2003 to provide opportunities for dialogue to develop among researchers in the fields of later historical archaeology and the archaeology of the contemporary world. The group is based in Britain, but encourages international perspectives. It is grounded in archaeology, but promotes interdisciplinary dialogue. Since its establishment, the group has held annual conferences in November. The group publishes its conference proceedings and other single authored monographs as part of the Studies in Contemporary and Historical Archaeology series, published by Archaeopress. For more details see http://www.contemp-hist-arch.ac.uk/