The issue of “Surprising Sources” can be understood in two ways: first by reflecting on a source that is surprising in its form (use of a series of stamps, unpublished data, a natively digital archive, material traces like abandoned factory, pipes, etc.), and second by presenting a source that is surprising in its content, such as an unexpected discovery in a source that alters the meaning of the research, adds substance to it, or modifies it.
For more information, visit https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/events/surprising-sources.
Here is the link to connect and join on Thursday, 11 May 2023, 13.00 - 18.30!
Programme
13.00 Welcome
13.15-14.00
Chair: Anna Åberg (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
Socio-Economic Characteristics as Determinants in the Job Market: The Case of Piedmont in Italy (1867-2005)
by Matteo Calabrese (C²DH, University of Luxembourg)
OCR generated digital newspaper archives: Usefulness and limitations for the study of history
by Jørgen Burchardt (Museum Vestfyn, Denmark)
14.00-15.15
Jumping into unexpected venues of advertisement research
by Matthias Höfer (C²DH, University of Luxembourg)
Operation Crossroad’s Flickering Image: On the (Im)Possibility of Researching Useful TV
by Anne-Katrin Weber (Unil, Switzerland)
Four ways of looking at a satellite earth station
by Lars Lundgren (Södertörn University, Sweden)
15.15-15.30 Break
15.30-16.45
Chair: Valérie Schafer (C²DH, University of Luxembourg)
Surprising encounters in anarchist archives. On the many lives of historical sources about politics and computing
by Ginevra Sanvitale (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
On Nicola Pellow’s notebook, or: some practices of writing a web browser in 1992/1993
by Sebastian Gießmann (Siegen University, Germany)
Exploring the Hidden Gems of the World Wide Web Logo: Uncovering its Historical Significance and Untapped Marketing Potential through CERN Archive
by Deborah Barcella (Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland)
16.45-17.30
Can Social Media help reconnect with the past? The case of party.lu
by Carmen Noguera (C²DH, University of Luxembourg)
After Wear and Tear: Working with Archival Materials That Show No “Look of Age”
by Johan Fredrikzon (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, & University of California, USA)
17.30-17.45 Break
17.45-18.30 Keynote
Unconventional sources found during the ENIAC in action project
by Thomas Haigh (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, USA & Siegen University, Germany)
____
Call for Papers (closed)
The relationship of the historians to archives and sources is unique. It has been the subject of descriptions that have become classics, such as Arlette Farge's Goût de l'archive (The Allure of the Archives, 2013, 1st ed. 1989), but also of reflections on the relationship to "new sources'', and notably digital ones (Müller and Clavert, ed., 2017).
Do the historians gathered in the Tensions of Europe network have a particular relationship to archives, to sources, and to their research material more generally? What does being a historian of technologies, infrastructures, or networks imply and is there a singularity with regards to sources and archives? It is this relationship to the archives, to the sources, to the historical material at large, to the spatialities and materialities as well, that this conference invites us to question. It aims to bring together the members of the ToE network around the question of “Surprising sources”. This issue can be understood in two ways: it is a matter of presenting and thinking about a source that is surprising in its form (use of a series of stamps, of unpublished data, of a natively digital archive, of material traces - abandoned factory, pipes, etc.) or in its content (an unexpected discovery at the turn of a source that moves, surprises, modifies the meaning of the research, gives it flesh, etc.).
We invite historians who recognize themselves in the central themes of Tensions of Europe to discuss their sources, to put them in perspective and to surprise us. Interventions will be 15 minutes long and the day will leave plenty of room for discussion and exchange. Proposals (500 words max) and short biographies are welcome until March 15, 2023 and to be sent at valerie.schafer@uni.lu. We hope to see many of you at this event, which will be dedicated to the core of our approaches and activities.
