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A CONFERENCE HOSTED BY THE STANFORD ARCHAEOLOGY CENTER
AT THE STANFORD HUMANITIES CENTER
LEVINTHAL HALL
FEBRUARY 17-19, 2006
Keynote Speakers:
Lynn Meskell, Stanford University
Alison Wylie, University of Washington and Stanford University
“Cultures of contact” is taken as the organizing theme of our conference, within a framework that recognizes the inseparable nature of the past, present, and future. The archaeological study of contact between past cultures is deeply imbricated with present-day socio-political relationships and discourse, and brings to the fore issues of colonization, culture change, resistance, and the rights of indigenous and descendant communities. Moreover, with the increasing tempo and scale of contact that is characteristic of globalization, ethical approaches must increasingly guide our negotiation of heritage and cultural resource management. Three broad themes are therefore distinguished: (1) cultures of contact in the archaeological record, (2) the development of a nuanced and practicable code of ethics for archaeology (contact between archaeologists and the ‘many publics’ who have a stake in archaeological research), and (3) the problematization of “culture contact” in a global environment.