Objects and possessions define us

The ‘Objects and possessions’ conference takes place from Monday 3 April to Thursday 6 April 2017 at the University of Southampton’s Avenue Campus, the home of its Faculty of Humanities.

Objects and possessions define us, yet in many ways we know little about them from a historical perspective.  This interdisciplinary conference looks at material culture across a long timeframe in order to explore the worlds of goods and objects across Europe and its overseas colonies, the connections and relationships facilitated by the exchange of goods, the importance and interpretation of the inheritance of goods and objects, and the ways in which goods brokered relationships between Europe and the wider world in the period. The aim is to deepen our understanding of how goods ‘worked’ in a variety of social, economic and cultural contexts.

Banner Image: A family being served tea, c.1745: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.