Buildings and the Body Event

Recent years have seen an upsurge of interest amongst medieval and early modern archaeologists and historians in the materiality of buildings and their social biographies. Amongst historians this has led to increasing interest in the eliciting of narratives derived from evidence of this materiality whilst historical archaeologists have devoted much attention to the ways in which the human body creates and inhabits its built environment. Both streams of work are strongly convergent and archaeology, in addition, is adding to this scholarship with the development of increasingly sophisticated virtual computer studies.

The wide time frame considered by this symposium is aimed at encouraging a rich diversity of viewpoints for discussion, illustration and comparison. In particular we are seeking papers which build on recent research or introduce new conceptual ways of viewing the building and its relationship to the body. The symposium has been devised to review the progress of ideas which make up the historical and archaeological perceptions of this relationship and explore and critique the newly emerging approaches, theories and practices.

We invite participants to contribute to this exciting process from across the humanities, as well as from heritage bodies, local interest societies, commercial units and other disciplines. Importantly, since we intend this event to be as inclusive and as enjoyable as possible, we would like to encourage the attendance of undergraduates and members of the public eager to expand and exchange their knowledge of this field.

For more information and a Call for Papers, visit buildingsandthebody.wordpress.com or e-mail buildingsandthebody@gmail.com

Organisers:

Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton

Dr Jude Jones, Catriona Cooper, Penny Copeland, Ellie Williams, Matthew Harrison and Tom Dhoop

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