The theme of the seminar is 'Object Biographies' and we'll be discussing how certain objects become expressive of domesticity. So, to this end, we'd be delighted if as many attendees as possible could bring with them an object (or a photo of a larger object) which represents 'home'.
As ever, there will be tea and coffee before the seminar, and the InHabit drinks trolley will do the rounds after the seminar with something stronger. We'll then head across the Woodstock Road to the Royal Oak for dinner. All are welcome.
About inHabit
The inHabit: Text, Object and Domestic Space research network brings together leading practitioners from a variety of institutions and disciplines to move beyond compartmentalized perspectives to embrace the complex and multi-faceted nature of domestic life. inHabit focuses on the relationships between people, objects and texts within domestic space. These are a series of concepts which are usually considered and conceptualized within discrete disciplinary frameworks, including (but not limited to) literary studies, anthropology, archeology, histories of art, architecture and design.
Domestic space is an important, yet hitherto neglected, framework for exploring how the conflicting demands of being an individual and being part of a group are expressed, negotiated and accommodated. The inHabit network will explore those tensions which, manifested in the domestic domain, underlie human existence, through binaries like ease and unease, comfort and discomfort, sufficiency and insufficiency, security and anxiety, continuity and innovation, familiarity and novelty.
For further information please contact:
Oliver Cox (oliver.cox@history.ox.ac.uk) - Director, Thames Valley Country House Partnership
Dr Antony Buxton(antony.buxton@conted.ox.ac.uk) - Department for Continuing Education
Dr Linda Hulin (linda.hulin@arch.ox.ac.uk)
inHabit: Text, Object and Domestic Space
Audience: Open to all