5th Biennial Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) Conference - call for participation

The 5th Biennial Conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) will be held at UCL in August 2020. The conference’s theme - 'Futures' - aims to engage seriously and critically with the often stated aims of heritage to address the concerns of future generations, whilst also asking participants to think expansively and creatively about the future of critical heritage studies as an emergent field of focus across a range of academic disciplines.

Sessions, discussion panels, papers, posters and films will explore a range of issues, including (but not limited to): the future of critical heritage studies; newly emerging concepts, themes and methods for the study of heritage; the future of heritage management, governance and diplomacy; evolving and nascent forms of heritage, and how they might be recognised; heritage as future-making; the “time” of heritage and its relationship with the past, present and future; future impacts of climatological, ecological, economic, political and social change on heritage; future relations of natural and cultural heritage in the light of the recognition of the Anthropocene; and the future of heritage itself.

The local conference organising committee has identified a series of sub-themes which will represent distinct threads through the conference, and session organisers and paper proposers are asked to select one of these sub-themes when they submit their proposals.

These sub-themes are as follows:

• Arts and Creative Practice
• Future Policies and Politics of Heritage
• Environmental Change and the Anthropocene
• Digital Futures in and for Heritage 
• Folklore and Intangible Heritages
• Heritage and Foodways 
• Conflict Heritage and Conflicted Heritages
• Urban Heritage Futures
• Future Methods and Approaches to Critical Heritage Studies
• Future Landscapes of Heritage
• The Future Museum: Collections and Collecting
• Heritage and Time
• The Futures of Heritage
• Mobilities and Migration
• Open Sub-theme

All proposals must identify at least one relevant conference sub-theme upon submission. The deadline for the call for curated sessions, individual papers, posters, films and discussion panels is 12 noon UK time on 15 October 2019.

Further details

• Further information is available on the conference website at www.achs2020london.com

The Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) is an international network of scholars, researchers and practitioners working in the broad and interdisciplinary field of heritage studies. The primary aim of ACHS is to promote heritage as an area of critical enquiry. The 2020 conference is organised by the UCL Institute of Archaeology in association with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Heritage Priority Area and the Association of Critical Heritage Studies.

We look forward to welcoming you to London in the Summer of 2020!