The conference “Memory and Learning in a Changing World” will take place on 15-17 September 2014 in Norway, at the Falstad Centre. The conference is being held in cooperation between The Falstad Centre, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and IC MEMO, The International Committee of Memorial Museums.

“Memory and Learning in a Changing World” will bring together museum professionals, scholars, educators and others, to explore and discuss how memorial sites and museums can contribute to intercultural understanding and democratic development. An important aim of the conference is to offer networking opportunities and to foster debate about the memory of near and distant historical traumas: Wars and conflicts, genocides and acts of terrorism.

Synopsis

Our stories and memories of the past are today marked by a transcending of national and ethnic boundaries, causing “a change in the basic grammar of collective memory” (Assmann). Modern societies thus mediate national memories in new ways; they are transformed but not erased, they continue to exist, yet are subjected to new memory patterns.

Commemorating multicultural and hyper-mediated tragedies, like the terror attacks in New York, Madrid and Oslo, as well as the suppressed memories of traumas like the Holocaust and the Spanish Civil War, are examples of such new and multi-layered processes, which in many respects differ from more traditional patterns of remembering wars and conflicts.

In the recently published report of the Council of Europe, Living Together – Combining diversity and freedom in the 21st-century Europe, museums and other cultural institutions are seen as important educational tools: to develop intercultural competencies, and to overcome major threats for peace and sustainable democracy.

This conference aims at making a roadmap on how to deal with near and distant historical traumas, and how memorials and museums can contribute in the service of democratic development and intercultural understanding in the future.

Prior to the conference the annual assembly of IC Memo will take place at the Falstad Centre on 15 September 2014 , 2 o’clock PM.

Program: http://falstadsenteret.no/arrangement/2014/Program_internasjonalkonferanse.pdf

Online Registration: https://no.surveymonkey.com/s/memoryandlearning

Inquiries & Contact: [email protected]