This interdisciplinary conference will explore the varied expressions of craft – material, cultural, social – in past and present societies.  Craft practice has a rich history and remains vibrant today, sustaining communities while negotiating cultures.  Craft-made goods were, and are, created for domestic or institutional use, for local or international markets.  They express gender roles and cultural aspirations, sustain economies, and express aesthetic values and skills of making.  Craft practice has long defined communities and groups, and continues to do so in the midst of global trade networks.  Moreover, the flow of ideas, goods, and peoples animate the making, circulation, and meaning of craft goods.  These and other issues will be addressed over the course of the conference.

Keynote Speaker

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University

Confirmed Speakers

Eiluned Edwards, London College of Fashion, UK

Edward S Cooke, Yale University

Janice Helland, Queen’s University, Kingston

Laura Peers, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

Ruth Phillips, Carleton University, Ottawa

Call for Papers

Paper proposals and full panels are invited on topics ranging from the history to present practice of craft, issues of production, use, and trade of craft, and the construction and interpretation of the meanings of craft, in the context of personal interactions, local communities, national groups, modes of international circulation, and forms of cultural context.

Graduate students are encouraged to apply with either single papers or panels. Three graduate proposals will be selected for a special graduate plenary session, in addition to those papers selected for concurrent sessions.

Proposals are invited from all disciplines.  The proposal package should include a paper summary of 150-200 words and a two-page CV.  Proposals must be received by 10 October 2010.* The program will be announced 1 November 2010. Registration will open on 15 December 2010.

Conference Organizer: Beverly Lemire, Department of History & Classics and Department of Human Ecology, University of Alberta

Proposals should be sent to: material.culture@ualberta.ca