Post-Conference Thoughts on the Mid-America American Studies Association's 2011 Conference

A little over two weeks has passed since the conference ended, and after spending last week tying up loose ends (still not quite finished), I thought that it would be a good time to reflect and report on the event.  


This was the first time that the Material Culture Focus Group put on a large-scale conference, and I think that we did pretty well!.  Thirty-nine people gave lively and interesting talks, and all had a different spin on material culture.  It's always nice to see how different fields and universities interpret the term and practice(s) of material culture.  The modus operandi of the conference was a three-person panel, with a group discussion of all presentations afterward.

The "Imagined Materialities" panel: Prof. Mark Nelson, Benjamin Wiggins, and Rebecca Keyel.
Photo by Theresa Haffner-Stearns.

I was particularly struck by Maggie Ordon's discussion of material culture theory and methodology in combination with sustainability.  My definition of sustainability expanded during her talk, which addressed not only ecology, workers' health and pay, safe materials and production processes, BUT sustainability in the form  of scholarly writing, the relationships that we have with objects, alongside memory, but individual and collective.  These last few bring to light more circumstances of "re-use."  Material culture becomes a politically-engaged lens through which to address objects, and by addressing issues of production, consumption, re-use, and intellectual practice, material culture studies can become a form of respect for both objects and the cultures that interact with them.  


Our final group event was the Saturday evening dinner and closing address by Prof. Ann Smart Martin, who gave us a brief history of material culture studies, then synthesized the presentations given by a range of individuals, concluding that material culture studies has changed greatly with its inception, broadened by the discourse of globalization, the broadening of the definition of material culture, and the variety of concerns about which new scholars write.


On Sunday, a small group made its way to Fox Point, a suburb of Milwaukee, WI, to tour the Chipstone Collection.  Although a good deal of the collection is housed and exhibited at the Milwaukee Art Museum, there is still much to be seen at the Foundation;s headquarters.  Sarah Scarlett willingly and ably drove the eight-passenger van, something that I was too scared to do.

Chipstone HQ, Milwaukee, WI.  Photo by Theresa Haffner-Stearns.

Director Jon Prown and Hummel Fellow Kate Smith spoke with the group, giving a brief history of the foundation, while taking us from room to room, allowing us to casually ask questions about the plethora of ceramic objects and furniture in each room.  Independent news correspondent Gianofer Fields recorded our conversations.  

A good conference was put on, and thankfully went off without any major hitches.  Taking a poll of the conference organizers, the main lesson learned was that having a support network of people to help with tasks definitely kept the stress level down.  Conference organizing is always stressful, but being able to trust and rely on others make things a lot better.  And because of that, saying thank you to other is of utmost importance.

For more information about the event and to get a different perspective on it, check out Theresa Haffner-Stearns' blog posts here and here!  Thanks to Theresa for graciously allowing me to use some of her images.