129th American Historical Association Annual Meeting
January 2-5, 2015, New York City
Meeting Theme: History and the Other Disciplines

For more information on the annual meeting, see:
http://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/september-2013/history-and-the-other-disciplines

Abstracts are requested for the following session:

Living in a Material World: Material Culture and Historical Inquiry
Organizer: Amanda Lanham
Session Chair: Robin Fleming

This session invites proposals for papers that highlight the use of
material culture within historical inquiry. History has traditionally
relied upon texts as its primary source material, while material culture
remained the purview of other object-based disciplines such as anthropology
or art history. This perspective has gradually shifted as historians have
increasingly recognized the documentary potential of “things.” Objects,
through their shape, material, decoration, function, etc. constitute a
significant aspect of the human experience that is often not visible in
texts alone. The expanding importance of material culture in historical
scholarship has increased interdisciplinary dialogues and contributed to
the breaking down of once rigid disciplinary divides, fostering a more
holistic approach to the study of the past.

The goal of this session is to bring together papers that demonstrate the
ways in which material culture can offer a unique and valuable insight into
history. The session will incorporate a wide chronological and geographic
range of topics in order to place the emphasis on material culture as
source material rather than the history of a specific time or place.
Proposals that take a cross-disciplinary approach will be especially
welcome.

Please send a paper abstract (max 300 words) and CV to:
alanhamfas.harvard.edu by January 2, 2014.

Authors of selected papers will be notified by January 17, 2014 and will
have until February 15, 2014 to upload their abstract on the American
Historical Association annual meeting website. AHA membership is required
to submit an abstract to the AHA online system. The AHA program committee
will decide on the acceptance of the entire panel.

Session Chair:
Robin Fleming
Professor and Chair
Department of History
Boston College

Session Organizer:

Amanda Lanham
PhD Candidate
History of Art & Architecture
Harvard University
Sackler Museum
485 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138
alanhamfas.harvard.edu