Conference 2024

Research on cultural heritage has become one of the most fertile areas of debate across social sciences and the humanities in the last decades. However, one of the most burning questions posed by ongoing research regards the effort of finding a common framework for addressing the link between tangible and intangible heritage. Drawing a demarcation line between the two has always been a challenge, which is now becoming increasingly difficult to overcome given the ever-growing number of interdisciplinary approaches that bring them together in showing their inextricable connection. How can one disentangle the social and cultural practice of pottery making from the actual result of the practice itself, i.e., its archeological remnants?

Therefore, we invite scholars and researchers from the fields of social sciences and the humanities (anything ranging from literary studies to history, archaeology, musicology, sociology, cultural studies, etc.) to submit their abstracts for the international conference “Tangible and Intangible Heritage. A Dichotomy under Debate,” which is to be held on-site between 24-25 October 2024 in Sibiu/Hermannstadt, Romania.
We welcome both case-studies and theoretical insights that question the aforementioned dichotomy between tangible and intangible heritage, as well as contributions that contest the very possibility of disregarding their differences and addressing the two within a holistic methodology. Presentations should be guided by, but not restricted to, the following questions and topics:

• Are there any emblematic, indisputable cases of tangible/intangible heritage?
• Conversely, are there specifically “mixed” heritage research undertakings?
• Possible definitions in conceptualizing tangible and intangible heritage;
• What is the role of digital heritage and the digital sphere in bridging tangible and intangible heritage?
• Methodologies and tools for digitizing tangible and intangible cultural heritage;
• Comparative perspectives on European public policies and institutions vs. national policies and institutions in preserving and safeguarding cultural heritage;
• The role of civic engagement in preserving tangible cultural heritage such as churches, monuments, parks, and so on;
• Festivals, museums and social practices as tangible/intangible heritage;
• Tangible heritage between commodification and cultural branding;
• The training of human resource in heritage preservation;
• The question of outsourcing cultural heritage preservation to NGOs and other private enterprises.

Scholars interested in these topics are invited to submit the title of their presentation, together with an abstract of max. 300 words and a short author bio (max. 100 words) by July 1, 2024, to the conference organizing committee at grant.elabchrom@ulbsibiu.ro. The accepted abstract proposals will be announced by July 15, 2024. Following the conference, the participants will have the chance of being selected for a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal or for an edited volume submitted to an international publishing house.

We look forward to your contributions and hope to see you at the conference!