13-14 September 2018,
School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester
As the oldest, largest, and most renown centre of research for museum theory
and practice, the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester attracts
academics, researchers, and practitioners from all over the world. To continue the
School’s impeccable tradition, the PhD Research Community will host the Museums
(em)Power conference on 13-14 September 2018, which will thematically explore
power from a contemporary, museum context. This conference will provide a platform
for emerging researchers and professionals to meet, share ideas, network, and learn
the latest sector trends and news.
This conference seeks to explore the power relations in the contemporary museum context. The term ‘museums’ in the title encompasses not only museums but all forms of cultural institutions where people, objects and other entities interact.
By putting ‘em’ in parenthesis, the term ‘(em)Power’ has two implications. Cultural institutions can own, share, give or withhold authority through the distribution of values and meanings. Whether empowering or not, cultural institutions are unquestionably political spaces where power negotiations between different bodies take place.
This conference therefore aims to encourage conversations between academics, artists and professionals from different sectors about how cultural institutions react to the dynamics of power happening around them. Museums (em)Power will be the seventh conference developed by the PhD community at the University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies. Confirmed keynote speakers include: Professor Simon Knell and Professor Richard Sandell
This conference will be accompanied by the (em)Powering Images exhibition. Call for Papersand Call for Images are now open!
Previous PhD conferences have achieved great success and received positive feedback.
Museums Alive! in 2014, for example, had approximately 100 delegates and
presenters registered for the two-day conference, including museum professionals and
students representing 22 different countries!
https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/museums-empower
