2015 will see the 70th anniversary of Johan Huizinga’s death and the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Huizinga Institute. In order to mark these anniversaries, the Department of History of the University of Groningen will organize its annual international Summer School ‘Things that Matter’ in close cooperation with the Huizinga Institute. The opening event of the Summer School will be dedicated to Huizinga’s intellectual legacy in the contemporary academic word. Keynote speakers are Peter Burke and Wessel Krul.
The Summer School will encourage participants to enter into a ‘dialogue’ with Huizinga’s thought by embarking on a close reading of his work and by considering how his thoughts have resonated with new developments in the field.
We are particularly interested in the relationship between Material Culture and Cultural History. What forms of insight result from the study of objects/things/artefacts as source materials? How are the field's terminology and concepts distinguished? Do established historical phenomena develop new significance when viewed via ‘things’? Can 'things' be regarded as sources for understanding modes of thought and cultural habits that yield information that is not attainable via textual or iconic sources? Which kinds of information do objects immediately convey and how can we decode them? How does the haptic quality of ‘things’ add to their meaning?
We discuss the role of objects in Public History. How does society approach the legacy of ‘things’ in museums and heritage institutions? Which objects are “worth keeping”? Who determines the selection process and what are selection criteria for curators, archivists and other agents in the sector?

We invite applicants (PhD and MA) from the fields of History, Cultural Studies, Art History, Ethnology and related disciplines.
Deadline for applications: 1 May 2015.

For further details and applications forms please see:
http://www.rug.nl/summerschools
You can also contact us via email: thingsthatmatter@rug.nl