April 29-30, 2022
On Altars of Soil Workshop: Unearthing New Narratives in Early Chinese History
Co-organizers:
Nicholas Vogt, Indiana University
Glenda Chao, Ursinus College
Cosponsors:
Tang Center for Early China, Columbia University;
the East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University;
the College Arts and Humanities Institute, Indiana University; and
Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University
Introduction:
The workshop “On Altars of Soil: Unearthing New Narratives in Early Chinese History” (hereafter OAOS) brought together archaeologists and textual historians working on early China to discuss the implications of revising historical narratives about early China based on unearthed materials; consider how the narrative habits of archaeology and history can inform and problematize each other; and plan a publication that will present, through various case studies, a mission statement and assembly of models for future work that treats with such narratives both historically and archaeologically.
The OAOS workshop had its roots in a virtual lecture series hosted by the Indiana University East Asian Studies Center over the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years. Participants offered lectures on subjects of their choice related to the theme, with the understanding that they would write them up based on lecture feedback. In advance of the OAOS workshop, participants shared their written drafts. The workshop time was divided approximately equally between discussion sections focused on groups of these papers and round-table discussions dealing with topics related to the paper groups on a more general level.
The workshop convened in person at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University (hereafter HLS) on Friday, April 29th, 2022, at 9:00 AM (after a scheduled meal) and disbanded at approximately 1 PM on Saturday, April 30th. Its activities were sponsored by the Tang Center for Early China, Columbia University; the East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University; the College Arts and Humanities Institute, Indiana University; and HLS.
Participating Scholars:
In-person attendees:
Elizabeth Berger, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of California Riverside (presenter)
Glenda Chao, Assistant Professor of History, Ursinus College (co-organizer, presenter, moderator, discussant)
Du Heng, Assistant Professor, University of Arizona (presenter)
Lothar von Falkenhausen, Professor of Chinese Archaeology and Art History, UCLA (presenter, discussant)
Margaret Graves, Associate Professor of Art History, Indiana University (discussant)
Elizabeth Hebbard, Assistant Professor of French and Italian, Indiana University (discussant)
Keith Knapp, Professor of History, The Citadel (presenter, discussant)
Lai Guolong, Associate Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology, University of Florida (presenter)
Guo Jue, Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Bowdoin College (presenter)
Anne Pyburn, Provost Professor of Anthropology, Indiana University (presenter, discussant)
Camilla Sturm, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College (presenter)
Ori Tavor, Senior Lecturer of Chinese Studies, University of Pennsylvania (discussant)
Paul Nicholas Vogt, Assistant Professor of Early Chinese History, Indiana University Bloomington (co-organizer, presenter, moderator)
Virtual attendees:
Sarah Allan, Burlington Northern Foundation Professor of Asian Studies (emerita), Dartmouth College (presenter)
Christopher Foster, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Oxford University (lecture series presenter, attendee)
