BU Archaeology Biennial Graduate Student Conference
The Graduate Student Association of Boston University’s Department of Archaeology invites papers for the Twelfth Biennial Graduate Student Conference on October 23-25, 2015. This conference series is intended to provide a forum for the discussion of current issues and perspectives in Archaeology and its related fields, including Anthropology, Art History, Near Eastern Studies, Museum Studies, Classics, Geography, and others from language and area studies.
This year’s theme addresses the need for understanding social, spatial, and temporal scales of human behavior. Scholars in archaeology and allied disciplines work in scales encompassing issues ranging from the individual to global populations, specific sites to landscapes, or individual texts placed within specific social milieu. A literary critic studying an individual text cannot understand it without examining the social context within which it was written. Similarly, an archaeologist cannot understand the material remains of past individuals without an understanding of the greater social networks within which these were embedded. In order to understand the complexity of human behavior, we must seek to better understand the interplay between these dimensions. In highlighting these issues during the conference, we expect to receive multi-, trans-, and interdisciplinary papers.
Topics for submission could include, but are not limited to:

  • Daily practices of individuals viewed through household remains
  • Social impacts of colonial religious conversions
  • Connections between diasporic individuals and their relationship to the larger homeland and culture
  • Material analysis of archaeological remains and their implications for larger cultural patterns

The conference will start with an address by our distinguished keynote speaker, Cynthia Robin on Friday, October 23rd.  On October 24th, the Graduate Students will present their papers. The conference will conclude with a round table forum on Sunday, October 25th with Dr. Robin, allowing conference presenters and attendees to discuss the presentations.
Papers are limited to 20 minutes and may address any time period, geographic area, or related theoretical issue. Please submit a typed abstract of up to 250 words via our online submission page listed below:
http://www.bu.edu/archaeology/graduate/2015-bu-graduate-student-forum/abstract-submission/
The deadline for abstracts this August 30, 2015. There is no registration fee for this conference. Selected participants will be notified by September 10th, and your full paper will be due by October 10, 2015.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at:
Graduate Student Conference Committee Department of Archaeology, Boston University 675 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Buarchconf15@gmail.com
http://www.bu.edu/archaeology/
General conference information can be found at:
http://www.bu.edu/archaeology/graduate/2015-bu-graduate-student-forum/