Connection, Creativity, Community: Insider-Outsider Perspectives
Friday, 30 June–Sunday, 2 July 2023, University of Aberdeen
Co-sponsored by The Folklore Society, Elphinstone Institute, and supported by University of Aberdeen Development Trust
Keynote
Friday, 30 June, 2.30pm, Craig Suite, Sir Duncan Rice Library
'Travelling Both: Weaving and Walking, Narrative and Knowledge in the Modern Museum'
Willow Mullins, University of Edinburgh
Programme
Information for attendees
Getting to Aberdeen
Travel to Aberdeen from within the UK is effective by bus and train. If you are arriving in Glasgow or Edinburgh, bus connections are readily available via Megabus and Flixbus. Train connections are available via LNER and ScotRail and thetrainline.com is a helpful booking tool. At the moment, there is nothing planned on the conference dates, but be aware that industrial action might affect train services and place extra pressure on bus services.
Further details on reaching Aberdeen University campus by all forms of transport (including local bus numbers) can be found here.
If you would prefer to walk, the university campus can be reached in around 45 minutes from the bus and train stations.
Maps are available showing the locations of all conference venues and accommodation.
Downloadable maps of the campus, accommodation site and Aberdeen city centre can be found here.
About the conference
The Folklore, Ethnology and Ethnomusicology Conference Aberdeen was founded at the Elphinstone Institute in 2014 as a meeting place for early-career researchers across disciplines to connect and share their ideas in a welcoming and inclusive format. The plenary format allows everyone to present their research to the whole group, and a maximum of 30 participants creates a sense of community among participants, opportunities for networking, and space for conversations. Our programme includes a welcome conference dinner and activities taking in the local area.
Original Call for Papers
Do you call yourself an ethnologist, a folklorist, an ethnomusicologist, a community activist, or anything in between? Do you work in a university, a cultural organisation, or in the third/non-profit sector?
This conference aims to create a space to explore the purposes of this kind of work. Often the role combines academic research and community-based, socially engaged practice. How do we navigate between these different worlds?
What is the significance of our work? Is it to contribute to new knowledge, or to make a difference to the lives of the people we work alongside? Is this a dichotomy, or is there a more nuanced way to look at the interplay between academia, communities, and activism?
Potential topics include but are not limited to:
- How do academia, the public realm, community groups, and organisations overlap or interact?
- How do community development, creative projects, and academia interact?
- How does the researcher’s role in the community influence the university and vice-versa?
- What are the social and cultural connections and implications of these relationships?
The call for papers is now closed.