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International Research Conference Program
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has always been associated with a great University with world class experts in a wide variety of fields—scholars and researchers who have used the Museum’s many resources, and shared their own knowledge and perspectives with the Museum’s diverse scholarly and public audiences. Backed by a generous, two-year seed grant, we begin the Penn Museum International Research Conference Program, designed to offer leading scholars at Penn and throughout the world opportunities to come together to share ideas, explore the perspectives and intersections of multiple disciplines, and grapple with complex issues about human cultures and societies. The International Research Conference Program will be intellectually creative, challenging, and rigorous—with the goal to create new avenues of understanding, and to publish newly emerged knowledge through web and print media. The goal of this collaborative effort is no less than the generation of new knowledge and understanding: interaction within the conference setting is expected to move the study of human culture and societies forward. We are working for new insights into the nature of human evolution, human behavior, culture, and society—fresh understanding of the past as well as of contemporary issues. Possible topics of inquiry include the rise of complex cultures, the collapse of ancient and modern societies, the nature of political power, the impact of the changing environment on human societies, the development of writing and other communication systems and communication within and between communities. Topics already under consideration include: “Landscapes of Movement: Trails, Paths, and Roads”; “Comparative Diplomatics: Historical and Cultural Implications”; “Evolution of Mind”; and “Forces of Nature: Environmental Risk and Resilience as Factors of Cultural Change.” Proposals on topics relevant to the study of humans and human societies, drawing on a variety of Penn departments and schools, are welcome. We are excited about the possibilities for new knowledge of the human condition generated through our International Research Conference Program. I invite all in the Penn community to submit inquiries or proposals to Prof. Holly Pittman, Deputy Director for Academic Programs, who will coordinate the conferences through my office. We hope that this initiative will attract the interest of Penn scholars who seek an innovative structure to support their study of humans and human societies, across time and space, and that it will move us all toward a new era of integrated thinking in the human sciences.
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