Conference Themes

Submissions for the 2024 conference have now closed.

The conference welcomes historic, contemporary and interdisciplinary approaches to the topic, and invites contributions from design historians, scholars, and academics in related fields, as well as design practitioners and educators, museum professionals and research students. Topics might include, but are not restricted to:

Nationhood and Geographical Borders

  • regionalism, ethnicities and identities
  • decolonization and the anti-colonial
  • transnational design and border markers
  • border control and the design of identification systems
  • language barriers
  • the visual and material culture of Brexit and Covid-19
  • the cross-border movement of goods, people, animals and waste

Identity and the Human and Non-human Border

  • the body, gender and sexuality
  • Artificial Intelligence and human creativity
  • humans, animals and the environment
  • contrasting the Anthropocene and Symbiocene
  • digital and physical borders
  • ethical and moral boundaries
  • the hem and the decorative edge
  • walls, thresholds, gates, doors and windows, interiors and exteriors

Disciplinary Borders

  • between design practices and historical disciplines
  • interdisciplinary perspectives on design history
  • what are design history’s borders?

Making a Submission 

Individual papers of 20 minutes or proposals for full panels of three papers related to the topics listed above or the theme of 'Border Control: excursion, incursion and exclusion' will be considered.

Panel proposals must include abstracts for all three papers, in addition to a short description of the panel theme. We are also open to other formats that go beyond the boundaries of conventional academic presentation, such as short films or performances. These proposals should include a 300-word description of the format, participant name(s), and abstract(s). Delegates would be responsible for any technical or other presentation aspects that go beyond conventional presentation modes. Proposals can be for presentations between 15 and 30 minutes.

All proposals will be double-blind reviewed and selected by the conference committee. Submissions are due Thursday 29th February 2024 and should:

  1. Be sent in the form of a Microsoft Word document (.doc, .docx)
  2. Not exceed 300 words for individual papers in 12-point typeface with 1.5 line spacing
  3. Not exceed 1100 words for panel proposals (max. 200 words description of the panel theme plus 3 paper proposals)
  4. Include the title of the paper/panel
  5. Include up to 5 keywords
  6. Include the author's full name, title, position and any institutional affiliation
  7. Include a brief professional biography (not exceeding 50 words)
  8. Please label your file "Surname_DHS proposal submission."

Submissions should be sent to designarchresearch@uca.ac.uk for the attention of the Collaborative Team. Please put in the email subject line "Surname_DHS proposal submission".

The Design History Society offers bursaries for student speakers whose abstracts have been accepted and who are members of the Design History Society. 

Thank you, we look forward to reading your submissions.

Jessica Kelly, Victoria Kelley, Anne Massey, Catharine Rossi, Kim Trogal

 

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