Call for Papers - 2018 ECHIC Conference, Equip and Engage, 4-6 April 2018 Leuven (Belgium)

Matthias Meirlaen Announcement
Location
Belgium
Subject Fields
Archival Science, Digital Humanities, Humanities, Popular Culture Studies, Public History

In April 2018, the Faculty of Arts of KU Leuven and the KU Leuven Libraries are hosting a European Conference for the Humanities on behalf of the European Consortium of Humanities Institutes and Centres (ECHIC, http:/echich.org).

Like the preceding ECHIC conferences in Dublin, Utrecht, Nottingham, Oporto, Pamplona, Macerata and Edinburgh, the conference aims to probe some of the most pressing issues facing the humanities as academic disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. In 2018, the theme is “Equip & Engage: Research and Dissemination Infrastructures for the Humanities”. Papers and discussions will be focused around (challenges connected to) digital scholarship in the humanities and the dissemination and impact of the results of this research. The conference programme will feature keynote lectures, conference papers, project presentations/demos, lightning talks and panel discussions, as well as the annual meeting of ECHIC and diverse networking opportunities.

The topic of the conference elicits a number of questions. We welcome proposals – especially from, but not limited to, early career researchers – for (20-minute) papers, (10-minute) project presentations/demos or (5-minute) lightning talks dealing with these or related questions:

  • Is there a need for separate research and dissemination infrastructures for the humanities? In what way would they differ from what is currently available or is being prepared for the social and behavioural sciences and STEMM disciplines?
  • In what way does digital scholarship in the humanities differ from non-digital scholarship? Should non-digital scholarship be considered a thing of the past or should it be considered (and valued?) as a different research method?
  • To what degree do the current funding models in various European countries accommodate the full cost of ownership and long-term sustainability of research and dissemination infrastructures and digital projects?
  • In the beginning, the digital turn seemed to be an important element in democratizing humanities education and research. Should humanities education and research fulfill this role? Has the digital turn fulfilled the initial promises of democratization? Can we predict future developments?
  • What are the infrastructures the humanities need to achieve optimal public engagement? How can they strengthen public engagement in the humanities?
  • What is the role of open data and open access in the humanities? Should our institutions follow or lead in this context?
  • How do publication and other forms of dissemination of the results of humanities research differ from publication/dissemination in other disciplines? Should it be different or not?

In addition to inviting a number of keynote speakers, as well as welcoming the ECHIC members to Leuven, we are looking for responses to this call for papers. The conference is open to all those who engage with the humanities as academic practices, directly or indirectly, at whatever stage of their career. We especially welcome proposals from early career researchers. Please note that the scientific committee can suggest to rework a proposal for a conference paper to an abstract for a project presentation/demo or a lightning talk. You may also choose to propose a project presentation/demo or lightning talk in the first instance.

Unfortunately we are unable to offer funding, but all participants whose abstracts are accepted, will be exempt from paying the registration fee.

 

Abstracts

Please send your proposal and a short biographical sketch (not more than 150 words) to echic2018@kuleuven.be before September 1 2017.

  • 20-minute papers: abstracts of max. 500 words
  • 10-minute project presentations/demos: abstracts of max. 200 words
  • 5-minute lightning talks: abstracts of max. 200 words

 

Organizing committee

Koenraad Brosens (KU Leuven), Ortwin de Graef (KU Leuven), Matthias Meirlaen (KU Leuven), Dirk Van Hulle (University of Antwerp), Demmy Verbeke (KU Leuven), Christophe Verbruggen (UGent), Tom Willaert (KU Leuven)

 

Scientific committee

Koenraad Brosens (KU Leuven), Silvana Colella (University of Macerata), Ortwin de Graef (KU Leuven), Matthias Meirlaen (KU Leuven), Mark Depauw (KU Leuven), Fred Truyen (KU Leuven), Seth Van Hooland (ULB), Dirk Van Hulle (University of Antwerp), Demmy Verbeke (KU Leuven), Christophe Verbruggen (UGent), Tom Willaert (KU Leuven), Roxanne Wyns (KU Leuven)

Contact Information

Matthias Meirlaen, Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven (Belgium)

Tom Willaert, Artes Library, KU Leuven (Belgium)

Contact Email
echic2018@kuleuven.be