Date: February 24th 2010

The Making of the Humanities II

Second International Conference on the History of the Humanities

21-23 October 2010, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands



Goal of the Conference

This is the second of a biennially organized conference that brings together
scholars and historians of humanities disciplines to draw the outlines for a
comparative history of the humanities. Although there exist histories of
single humanities disciplines, a comparative history would satisfy a
long-felt need, and fill a conspicuous gap in intellectual history.




Theme of the Conference


The first highly successful conference, held in 2008, discussed the early
modern period. The theme of this year's meeting is From Early Modern to
Modern Disciplines, focusing on the period 1600-1900. Topics include all
aspects of the history of philology, linguistics, rhetoric, musicology,
literary theory, historiography, art history, archeology and other
humanities disciplines, with an emphasis on their interrelations. We
especially encourage submissions on:



*        Increasing specialization and institutionalization: How did
various branches of the humanities develop into modern differentiations
between disciplines?
*        Historization of the humanities: How did the historical approach
become the leading method underlying the humanities -- from philology to
musicology?
*        Humanties vs sciences: How were the humanities positioned with
respect to other sciences? Was there a continuing search for patterns and
'laws' in the humanities?
*        Interaction between regions: What was the impact of the European
humanities on the humanities in China, India and Africa, and vice versa?
*        Rise of canonical figures and themes: How did individual scholars
come to be identified with their disciplines? How did certain historical
moments or works obtain canonical positions, often in relation to the
ideals of cultural nationalism?


Abstract Submission

Send an abstract of maximally 400 words to: HistoryHumanities@gmail.com
<mailto:HistoryHumanities@gmail.com>

Deadline for abstract submissions: 15 June 2010

For more information, see http://www.illc.uva.nl/MakingHumanities/2010
<http://www.illc.uva.nl/MakingHumanities/2010>



Organization: Rens Bod, Jaap Maat and Thijs Weststeijn (University of
Amsterdam)