The USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute will host a major
international conference,

COLLECTING ACROSS CULTURES IN THE EARLY MODERN WORLD

to take place at the Huntington Library in San Marino,
California, on May 11th and 12th, 2007.

The conference organizers invite proposals for papers examining aspects of
collecting as a global and transcultural phenomenon in the period ca. 1450
to ca. 1850, including but not limited to the following topics:

- The formation and organization of collections: trajectories, networks,
circulation, exchange
- The motivations and uses of collections: science, art, religion,
curiosity, commerce, empire
- The interpretation, contextualization, and reinvention of early modern
collections
- The transference of techniques, artistic styles, ideas, and beliefs
through the circulation of objects
- The role of geography in the production, circulation, and
interpretation of collections
- The usefulness of theories of center and periphery, diffussionism,
transculturation, metissage, etc. in the understanding of collections
- Relationships between objects, texts, and images

The conference organizers encourage the submission of proposals which
examine not only how non-European material was collected by Europeans but
also how collectors outside Europe collected from other cultures.

The conference welcomes applications from scholars working across
disciplinary and institutional settings. To be considered, please submit
an abstract (not to exceed one page) and a c.v. (not to exceed two pages)
to bleichmausc.edu, or mail a copy of these materials to Collecting
Conference Organizing Committee, USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies
Institute, SOS 153, University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
California, 90089-0034. Proposals are due no later than November 1, 2006.

The conference will provide transportation and local costs for those
accepted on the program. The papers will be pre-circulated among
participants and must be available by March 30, 2006.

Questions may be addressed to the conference organizers, Daniela Bleichmar
(bleichmausc.edu) and Malcolm Baker (mcbakerusc.edu). Information about
the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute can be found at
www.usc.edu/emsi.