[URBANTH-L]IASTE 2008 Conference "Interrogating Tradition"

[sylvia nam]

Please circulate widely.

*"Interrogating Tradition"* is the theme of the eleventh conference of the
International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE)
to be held in Oxford, United Kingdom from December 12-15, 2008.  Tradition
has become a keyword in modern global practices, its meanings inextricably
bound today with the issues it seeks to explain. As tradition is a keyword,
the exercise of interrogation becomes essential in understanding the social
and political contexts in which it is mobilized. Examining the intersecting
discourses of tradition and the politics of its organization become critical
in identifying how socio-political identities and differences are pursued.
The paradoxes of this global moment necessitate a recalibration of our
operative epistemological frameworks in the study of traditional
environments. Accordingly the conference is organized along the following
three sub-themes: *Epistemologies of Tradition, Fundamentalism and
Tradition, and Regeneration and the Practices of Tradition.*

Scholars from relevant disciplines are invited to submit a 500-word abstract
and short biography. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is *February 15,
2008*. Submission details are available online at:
*http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/research/iaste/2008conference.htm
*

Inquiries should be directed to IASTE 2008 Conference, Center for
Environmental Design Research, 390 Wurster Hall, University of California,
Berkeley, CA 94720-1839, USA. Phone: 510.642.6801, fax: 510.643.5571,
e-mail: iaste at berkeley.edu <iaste at uclinkl4.berkeley.edu>.