"The Book and Its Time: Developing a `Period Eye'"
Session Organizer: Marie-Stephanie Delamaire (Winterthur Museum)
Saturday, 14 October 2017, 3:45–5:15pm
Bibliography Among the Disciplines Conference
12–15 October 2017, Philadelphia, PA

Shifting concerns in scholarship that foreground the materiality of textual artifacts have opened new inquiries into the complex sensory and intellectual experiences of physical books. Foregrounding the embodied encounter with a material text challenges our understanding of its relationships to the society that produced it, as well as its temporal framework.
What are the ramifications of this intellectual shift for historical interpretation? As material texts regain their status as objects, how are we to reconstruct their audiences’ experiences, expectations, interests and skills? How might books benefit from juxtaposition with other contemporary artifacts, as in "100 objects"-style historical projects?

This interdisciplinary session invites papers that enrich our historical interpretation of societies and cultures by investigating the relationships among books and their contemporary objects. No specific period or geographic region is required; the session aims at presenting current working methods and approaches for discussion. During this conference session, six participants will give 10-minute presentations, followed by a half-hour discussion led by a moderator.

In order to be considered, please submit a proposal for participation by October 25, 2016 at:
http://rarebookschool.org/bibliography-conference-presentations/
Proposals should include: a statement of interest including an abstract and explaining your expertise in the topic (no more than 500 words), together with a CV or resume of no more than 3 pages.

Bibliography Among the Disciplines, a four-day international conference, will bring together scholarly professionals poised to address current problems pertaining to the study of textual artifacts that cross scholarly, pedagogical, professional, and curatorial domains. The conference will explore theories and methods common to the object-oriented disciplines, such as anthropology and archaeology, but new to bibliography. The program aims to promote focused cross-disciplinary exchange and future scholarly collaborations. Bibliography Among the Disciplines is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and organized by the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School. For more information, please visit: rarebookschool.org/bibliography-conference-2017