Nordic TAG 2011 Kalmar

The 2011 Nordic TAG conference (which stands for Theoretical Archaeological Group) is arranged by the Linnaeus University of Kalmar in Sweden in April. The Nordic TAG is an off-shoot of the British TAG which was initiated in 1979 and is still going strong.

Next year's main theme is Multidisciplinary Archaeology. There are several sessions spanning from cultural mobility, to textiles, to time travel. The conference is mainly for Scandinavian archaeologists, but more distant colleagues are of course very welcome.

For the first time I am myself hosting a session, together with Lars Lundkvist of the National Heritage Board. If you are interested in participating please contact me at my work email.

Research and Outreach in the Digital Age
The combined growth of internet and digitalization has presented Archaeology with completely new challenges and opportunities. Is the computer now our primary tool, or do we risk losing touch with ‘reality’? What are the opportunities of creating vast databases for analyzing prehistory in previously unimaginable ways, and how can these repositories of data be made available to other researchers? Do researchers have a responsibility to interact more with the development of the technology they are using? What are the legal hurdles we face when making information widely available: is there a greater need for protection of rights, or do we instead need to fight the restrictions placed upon a potentially global research community?

Community outreach is a stated goal of both Universities and museums, and many research foundations now demand that projects communicate their results to the public and media. The internet is playing an increasingly large role in that communication, but does it add value or is it just window dressing? Does the Web have the potential to create an open dialogue between the public, media, researchers and cultural institutions, or does it risk breaking down established routes of credibility and ethics? The session welcomes any contributions discussing these or similar topics.


Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om Nordic TAG, Nordic TAG 2011, Linnéuniversitetet, arkeologi, konferens