Understanding Material Loss was a two-day international conference in which academics from a variety of disciplines examined scholarly responses to the issue of material loss and explored potential methodological commonalities.
This event was held at and hosted by the University of Birmingham in February 2017, with sponsorship from BRIHC and Past and Present. It brought together international scholars to discuss an issue of pressing relevance in an era of climate change, widespread conflict and mass migration.
It featured three keynote sessions involving 6 speakers – 3 from the UK and 3 from the US - on the topics of Using Materials, Possessions and Sites and Spaces, together with a lengthy Open Forum. The spread of contributions was maximised by the provision of 50 free places for postgraduate researchers and early career academics.
A report and podcast of a preparatory seminar are available, and further podcasts of the keynotes will be published shortly. The extensive Twitter feeds which the conference stimulated have been captured on Storify.