Bridges physically and symbolically connect places, communities and cultures; they remind us of division while at the same time providing the means for unification. This conference seeks to explore heritage of bridges \u2013not only as remarkable physical structures connecting places and cultures but also as symbolic and metaphorical markers in the landscape.
\nIndicative themes of interest to the conference include:8<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The materials and technologies of bridges \u2013 the heritage of form and function
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0National and local iconographies of bridges
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Narratives of bridge construction and destruction
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Communities united and communities divided by bridges
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Poetics of the bridge – representing the bridge in art, literature and film
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Love and death on the bridge
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The language of the bridge \u2013 metaphors and meanings in social life
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Touring bridges \u2013 travel narratives and tourism economies
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Alternative bridge crossings \u2013 tunnels and ferries<\/p>\n
The conference welcomes academics from the widest range of disciplines and wishes to act as a forum for exchange between the sciences, social sciences and the humanities. The conference will draw from anthropology, archaeology, art history, architecture, engineering, ethnology, heritage studies, history, geography, landscape studies, literature, linguistics, museum studies, sociology, tourism studies etc. The conference will take place at the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge Gorge \u2013 the birthplace of the industrial revolution and the home of the World\u2019s first iron bridge.<\/p>\n