INTERROGATING TRADITION: Epistemologies, Fundamentalisms, Regeneration and Practices
December 12 – 15, 2008

20th Anniversary Conference of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments

IASTE 2008 call for papers poster
IASTE 2008 conference poster
IASTE 2008 conference program
IASTE 2008 conference photos
IASTE 2008 Working Paper Series

This conference will explore the role of tradition in modern global practices with 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. The paradoxes of this global moment necessitate a recalibration of our operative epistemological frameworks in the study of traditional environments. Examining the intersecting discourses of tradition and the politics of its organization moreover become critical in identifying how socio-political identities and differences are pursued. We use the term “interrogate” then to refer to the epistemic exercise of framing the rationalities of tradition in relation to their construction and their implications for practice. Such avenues of inquiry provide ways to examine how traditional knowledge is formulated and deployed in the political sphere, including the post-conflict reconstruction of society and space, the use of tradition by the “state” as a means of co-optation or governance, or the manner in which fundamentalism is “framed” and used by different interest and social groups. Interrogation also allows for a re-engagement with the ways in which tradition is mobilized and deployed in revival and regeneration practices as well as the critical pedagogies on such practices. Scholars and practitioners from architecture, architectural history, art history, anthropology, archaeology, folklore, geography, history, planning, sociology, urban studies, and related disciplines will present papers related to the following three themes: Epistemologies of Tradition; Fundamentalism and Tradition; Regeneration and the Practices of Tradition.

CONFERENCE CO-SPONSORS
Argent Group PLC, London, United Kingdom
Blackwell’s Bookshop, Oxford, United Kingdom
The British Academy, London, United Kingdom
Destination Oxford, Kingham, United Kingdom
English Heritage, London, United Kingdom
English Partnerships, London, United Kingdom
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio, Bath and London, United Kingdom
Informa, London, United Kingdom
Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, Oxford, United Kingdom
Pye Homes Group, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
South East Excellence, Guildford, United Kingdom
The Trevor Osborne Property Group Ltd., London, United Kingdom

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Nezar AlSayyad, Conference Director, University of California, Berkeley
Marcel Vellinga, Conference Local Director, Oxford Brookes University
Sylvia Nam, IASTE Coordinator, University of California, Berkeley
Lily Cooc, IASTE Conference Coordinator, University of California, Berkeley
Karen Hughes, Local Conference Coordinator & Administrator, Oxford Brookes University
Vicky Garcia, IASTE Conference Administrator, University of California, Berkeley
Mark Gillem, Conference Advisor, University of Oregon

LOCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Mike Breakell, John Glasson, Rajat Gupta, Trevor Marchand, Paul Oliver, Aylin Orbasli,
Trevor Osborne, Mark Swenarton, Steve Ward

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Hesham Khairy Abdellfattah, Heba Farouk Ahmed, Howayda Al-Harithy, Greig Crysler, Dalila El Kerdany, Yasser Elsheshtawy, Mia Fuller, Mark Gillem, Joy Hendry, Chye Kiang Heng, Mui Ho, Gareth Jones, Hasan-Uddin Khan, Morna Livingston, Duanfang Lu, Mejgan Massoumi, Chris McDonaugh, Maria Moreno-Carranco, Stacey Murphy, Mrinalini Rajagopalan, Mike Robinson, Anna Rubbo, David Sanderson, Dell Upton, Donald Watts