The International Federation for Public History World Conference (August 18 – 22, 2020. Berlin, Germany) seeks participants for a working group that will bring together public historians, archivists, scholars, artists, oral historians, and activists interested in exploring the collective process of “memory” in queer and trans communities.
The aim is to convene a diverse group of stakeholders to explore the production and circulation of queer and trans memory across a range of geographical and institutional locations, and to explore new approaches that this work might take in the coming years.
They seek participants who are interested in exploring a wide range of questions, including:
- In what ways can we define queer and trans memory practices?
- What are the best practices for multi-disciplinary memory work that brings together a range of modes of knowledge production, creative interpretation, and community engagement?
- Does queer and trans memory work require a rethinking of traditional public history, oral history, and/or archival practice and platforms?
- How do approaches to interpreting queer and trans pasts differ across region? How might we foster transnational collaborative work that is attentive to diaspora, indigeneity, migration, and the dangers of universalizing the histories of non-normativity across region?
- How might we envision a set of memorialization practices for queer and trans histories that resist reductive and nationalist logics?
- What new ideas are artists and activists bringing to the work of queer and trans historical and archival interpretation?
If you are interested in participating, please send a brief proposal (1 – 2 paragraphs) describing how you might engage one or more of these questions as part of this group. They are especially interested in participants who will bring their own projects and experiences to bear on these themes. They expect that the workshop will involve brief presentations by participants followed by structured and moderated discussion.
Please send your proposals to kpmurphy@umn.edu and rmattson@umn.edu by April 1, 2020. We will notify participants by April 15.
Participants will be required to register for the conference. More information can be found here.
Workshop Conveners are Rachel Mattson, Curator of the Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies (University of Minnesota) and Kevin P. Murphy, Professor of History and Heritage Studies & Public at the University of Minnesota.
