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Call for Papers 'Using the Atlas: Irish Historic Towns Atlas workshops'

07 February 2022

The board of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA) is inviting expressions of interest from researchers, teachers and practitioners who have used the Atlas in their work and would like to take part in a day of workshops by giving a short presentation and taking part in panel discussions on Thursday 19 May 2022 in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. 

What can we learn about the urban experience from the Historic Towns Atlas? 

The Historic Towns Atlases are used as source material for comparative analysis of European towns, as a starting point for topographical research and as a basis for studying changes associated with modern urban expansion. The various ways in which they are utilised, however, are less well understood.

This year, the IHTA is running a series of workshops that focus on how the Atlas is used — in education by researchers, teachers and students; and in practice by heritage professionals, archaeologists, architects and planners, archivists and librarians.

The book Reading the maps: a guide to the Irish Historic Towns Atlas by H.B. Clarke and Jacinta Prunty was published in 2011 and takes a topographical, comparative, thematic and interdisciplinary approach to learning about town life. A number of chapters are freely available to download as part of IHTA Online. These workshops aim to build on those foundations and, in doing so, to stimulate an exchange of ideas and discover more about how we engage with our urban heritage and history.

Workshops will take place in the Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, D02 HH58. The day of workshops will culminate with a plenary lecture by Professor David Dickson (Trinity College, Dublin). The intention is that there will be an in-person audience on the day, though numbers may be limited. Booking to follow. 

We encourage a diverse range of Atlas users. Participants will be expected to present for 10 minutes and be part of a chaired-thematic panel. Please send a 200-word abstract with your full details on this form by 17:00 Friday 25 February 2022. Those with successful proposals will be notified during the week of 14 March 2022. 

Convened in association with the Historic Towns Trust/British Historic Towns Atlas.

*The RIA is unable to provide financial support for travel or accommodation.
**Feedback will not be provided for unsuccessful proposals.  

***If you have further queries around the workshops, please email ihta@ria.ie 

All of the data supplied in this form is securely stored with limited personnel access. Personal data collected will be used solely for the purpose of conducting a review assessment in line with General Data Protection Regulation. For any further information on our data protection practices please email dataprotection@ria.ie 

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