Taking Shetland out of the Box: Island Culture and Shetland Identity
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On 7-10 May 2009, the University of Aberdeen’s Elphinstone Institute, the UHI Millennium Institute’s Centre for Nordic Studies, and the Shetland Museum and Archives will hold an international, academic conference in Lerwick, Shetland, based at the Shetland Museum and Archives. Taking Shetland out of the Box: Island Cultures and Shetland Identity will consider Shetland’s role as a meeting place for cultures and the influence of these meetings on the formation of local identity. The identities of other island communities and culturally-insular peoples will also be considered.
Taking Shetland out of the Box will place Shetland and other geographically and/or culturally insular communities in context through an interdisciplinary exploration of the elements of island identity. It will include studies in folklore, anthropology, history, heritage, geography, and island studies. The conference will be international in nature, featuring participants from Europe and North America. Although the conference’s theme involves Shetland culture, papers are encouraged concerning subjects that are not specific to Shetland but concern island communities (Faroe, Orkney, the Hebrides, Man, Newfoundland, Lofoten, Bornholm, Svalbard, Channel Islands, Gotland, etc.), culturally-insular peoples (the Sami, Scottish Travellers, French Canadians, Inuit, Swedish Finns, etc.), or North Atlantic history and culture. There is particular interest in papers concerning the interactions of insular peoples with other nations and the formation of insular identity and nationalism. It is anticipated that several presentations will focus on communities other than Shetland.
The conference's keynote speakers will be the Swedish folklorist, Bo Almqvist, and the Danish novelist, Carsten Jensen.
The conference is experimenting with participatory organisation by encouraging attendees and organisers to interact on a conference Facebook page[1].
The complete call for papers and further information about the conference is available at the Elphinstone Institute's Website[2].
Adam Grydehøj of the Elphinstone Institute is acting as the conference's convenor. He can be contacted at: shetlandconference@abdn.ac.uk
