Conference

Preliminary Call for Papers.

Disciplinary Measures? Histories of Egyptology in Multi-Disciplinary Context.
June 10-12 2010, London (venue tbc).

A joint conference, to be sponsored by:
The Egypt Exploration Society (EES).
The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies.
University College London (UCL) Institute of Archaeology, Heritage Studies Research Group.

‘Disciplinary Measures?’ aims to provide a discussion forum for the increasing number of people working on the history (or histories) of the discipline of Egyptology. The conference is not limited to Egyptologists. Rather, it seeks to set the multiple histories of Egyptology in a broader, multi-disciplinary context, concomitant with the manner in which studies of the discipline have emerged in recent years. The conference, therefore, aims to stimulate critique and constructive dialogue, as its title suggests.

The conference benefits from the involvement of three diverse institutions in London, the combination of whose separate goals embodies its aims. The SOAS Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies provides a convenient space, for example, to discuss the place of the arguably colonial discipline of Egyptology in the postcolonial world. However, with the involvement of the EES, Britain’s learned society for Egyptology, such discussions can be immeasurably strengthened by the involvement of Egyptologists themselves (and the Society’s membership; Egyptology is significant in its popular appeal, and the third day of the conference will therefore be a study day with guest speakers, sponsored by the EES and open to the public). Meanwhile, the expertise of UCL’s Institute of Archaeology in the field of Heritage Studies (not to mention its links with the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie) adds a further element, allowing for a fuller understanding of Egyptology’s (not
insignificant) place within current heritage discourse.

Abstracts (250 words maximum) are invited for papers that consider the history of Egyptology from outside the perspective of the discipline itself, or which provide a historical perspective from within the discipline on current issues in other fields. The deadline for submission is February 28 2010; abstracts should be e-mailed to William Carruthers at .