Welcome

The School of Information and Labadie Collection, University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor, invite you to a Spring 2008 two-day conference on “Archives and the Ethics of Memory Construction.” On May 2 – 3 participants will explore interdisciplinary perspectives on the relationships between archives, professional ethics and responsibilities, power relationships, social justice, and contemporary and historical accountability. Building upon an emerging body of scholarship and praxis, invited speakers will offer theoretical and concrete examples of the roles archives play in shaping the present and the past.

Despite claims to impartiality, archival responsibilities are increasingly being seen as having broader social significances beyond records curation and management of the institutions where they are kept. This is especially true in the context of the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of memory studies and the recognition that archives play a critical memory construction role, as well as within the context of wide-ranging social and legal systems where archives are highlighted in connection with human rights and social justice imperatives. An exploration of the ethical responsibilities and dilemmas of archivists and the archives, as active shapers of societal memory, demands concentrated examination. This conference will facilitate a cross-disciplinary and international dialogue on the ethics of memory construction, and explore ways in which key challenges, lessons, and critical knowledge will continue to be identified, assembled, and shared.