November 23-24, 2023

University of Basel (Switzerland)

Deadline: September 29, 2023

Written sources, photographs, and other still images, as well as audiovisual materials are at the core of historical media research. This two-day workshop aims to gather and discuss sources used in research projects in Swiss universities or dealing with Swiss media to share methodological insights, provide practical tools, and discuss difficulties related to archival access and preservation. More specifically, each participant is invited to:

1.     “Bring” her/his source, if possible, in its original material dimension

2.     Explain and discuss the source in elevator pitch style (max. 7’)

3.     Make clear which are the stories that can be told thanks to the source

4.     Conclude with one methodological / archival question in relation to the source

We invite scholars, archivists, and curators to submit a 100 word abstract with the source they want to discuss and addressing the 4 points mentioned above. The abstracts should be sent to annekatrin.weber@unibas.ch by 10 September 2023 and notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 29 September 2023.

Keynote on Thursday 23 November: Friedrich Balke (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) on “Death ships. The dark side of the oceanic turn”. 

The workshop is the annual meeting of Media History | CH, a research network for media historians in Switzerland which brings together scholars from different fields with research interests in media history, archivists, and curators from museums to advance the study of media history in Switzerland (for more information: https://mediahistory.ch/).