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proj·ect
('prä-"jekt, -jikt):
(noun) 1:
specific plan or design; 2: a) planned undertaking: as in a definitely
formulated piece of research
b) a large undertaking c) a task or problem engaged in usually by a
group of students to supplement and apply classroom studies.
(verb) 1:
a) to devise in the mind b) to plan, figure, or estimate for the future
2: to throw or cast forward
3: to put or set forth, present for consideration .
Welcome
to "Project Past." We
simply provide a free web platform for a loose network of anthropologists,
archaeologists and historians interested in the past and historical
memory.
The name "Project
Past" refers to both our "project" (to investigate the
past, the noun definition above) and the process of "projection"
(how we remember and forget parts of the past, the verb definition above).
This project is, therefore, founded on the idea that there is another,
more subtle, layer of meaning(s) entangled with the past. This layer
can only be "excavated" in a "doubly historical" way-- examining not
only historical phenomena, but by unfreezing the very frames with which
historical phenomena have been understood (Jameson 1971:336). In short,
we attempt to focus simultaneously on the content of history and its
representation in cultural memory.
Some
of the researchers in these pages examine the often overlooked physical
transformations that influence our understandings of the past--Gregory
Vogel's geoarchaeology is an example. Some of us, such as Edward
Tennant and Jason Herrmann, are
interested in the use of technology to discover and/or interpret the
past(s) to the public. Others examine the constructions of of categories,
or even the shift to categorical thinking which acts as a lens through
which we view the past (John Hartigan's
anthropological work on categories and cultural analysis fits in here).
Still others (such as Jamie Brandon,
James Davidson
and Carl Carlson-Drexler) work on
historical narratives and what is differentially remembered and silenced.
If,
after taking a look around, you think your work would fit in with our
mission and you would like to post your work on this free web site,
click the link below. . . . we're always happy for folks to join us.
. . . .
Back
to the Project Past Index
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