New York City 2023

CAMOC 2023 Annual Conference Call For Paper

Changing Cities, Changing Museums
16–19 October 2023

 

Cities are famously generators and reflectors of social, economic, and political change, and never more so than in our own times. Population changes, global and regional migrations, racial and social justice uprisings, wars and human rights crises, economic globalization, the pressures of real estate development, gentrification, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis are just some of the forces that are causing cities to reckon with their futures, their identities, and what they represent.

As interpreters of history, city museums have always had the responsibility to contend with change, but existential shifts affecting cities in the 21st century present new levels of challenge. Simultaneously, new imperatives in museology and conversations around social justice are challenging city museums to examine their own practices around DEAI (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) and their relationship to their communities.

“Changing Cities, Changing Museums” invites presentations around the themes of:

  • Changing museum practices and their impact on city museums
    • Decolonization; governance and representation; community co-curation; uses of history; digitization
  • How city museums can and should respond to their changing communities
    • Community collecting; interpretive practices; racial, ethnic, and religious diversity; generational differences; well-being; multilingual approaches; gender representation; contemporary art and culture
  • How a city museum’s urban-scale perspectives can illuminate regional, national, and global changes
    • Housing; food; democracy; contemporary migrations; climate; transportation; political polarization
  • Strategies for making the changes in more distant pasts accessible to a contemporary audience
    • Historical perspectives; geology and sciences; archival gaps; environment; migration patterns; archaeology; intangible heritages

Learn more about our host, the Museum of the City of New York .

PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

Monday 16 October – NYC excursions, opening reception (more information coming soon!)
Tuesday 17 October – Sessions day 1, Museum of the City of New York
Wednesday 18 October – Sessions day 2, Museum of the City of New York
Thursday 19 October – Workshop on Social Housing & Migration (more information coming soon!)

IMPORTANT DATES

15 April – Abstract submissions due
30 May – Presenters notified; travel grant opportunities issued
15 June – Travel grant applications due
29 July – Updated programme published and registration open

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please prepare an abstract of your proposal in English (up to 350 words), together with a brief biographical note (up to 75 words), and either fill out the form at https://forms.office.com/e/ay2zjBTgpH or email materials to secretary.camoc@icom.museum. The deadline for submissions is 15 April 2023.

We welcome different presentation modes and formats that differ from traditional paper presentations, such as interactive activities (discussions, games), posters, videos, 5-minute ignite sessions, etc.
Please provide the following information:

  • Author(s)
  • Your place of work, if applicable
  • ICOM membership number, if applicable
  • E-mail address
  • The session theme your proposal fits best
  • Title of the proposal
  • Presentation format (paper, video, interactive session, poster, etc.)
  • Attendance (online, in person)
  • Abstract (max. 350 words)
  • Keywords (max. 5)
  • Short biography (max. 75 words)

The selection committee may choose to organize accepted submissions into different models for presentations (standard oral presentations, ignite sessions, round tables). Further guidance will be provided upon completion of the evaluation process, depending on the number and profile of the successful applicants and recommendations of the selection committee.

For any questions, email secretary.camoc@icom.museum