2014 conference logo

Tenth International IAWIS/AIERTI Conference
and Twenty-First Annual Scottish Word and Image Group Conference

Riddles of Form: Exploration and Discovery in Word and Image

University of Dundee, Scotland
11-15 August 2014

2014's IAWIS/AIERTI conference will be hosted for the first time by the Scottish Word and Image Group (SWIG), fronted by the University of Dundee's English programme, School of Humanities and Museum Services.

The conference theme is Riddles of Form: Exploration and Discovery in Word and Image. It will examine representation of science and technology in text, poetry, art, popular culture, film, print and digital media, etc. Dundee has a particular history and reputation in both sciences and arts and is thus an ideal venue for the theme.

The conference will specifically invoke Dundee's scientific and cultural history through the foundational work of D'Arcy Thompson and Patrick Geddes, both polymathic visual thinkers of international reputation. It will also showcase the city's history of polar exploration and technological innovation. However, the conference's approach to 'science' is in no sense limited to the Anglophone tradition defining it in the narrower sense of the natural sciences, but will restore and celebrate the full range of its original humanistic associations. Hence the theme will appeal to panels and papers on all kinds of human knowledge, enquiry and analysis, and how they are conceptualised, conducted or communicated through forms of verbal and visual media.

SWIG will be collaborating with various organisations within the city to host accompanying exhibitions, events and films. The 2014 Triennial will be a high-profile event, with four packed days of panels and keynote talks, plus a day of optional trips. Speakers will also have the option of presenting either in English or French.

Conference Fees

Early bird: £180
Standard: £240 (applies after 30 June)
Early bird concessionary: £90
Standard concessionary: £120 (after 30 June)
(the above fees include coffee and tea breaks and daily lunch buffet)

Early bird day rate: £50
Early bird concessionary day rate: £30
Standard day rate: £70
Concessionary day rate: £40

Optional events:

Excursion to Little Sparta, the Garden of Ian Hamilton Finlay (Wednesday 13 August)
Cost: £28
Includes entrance to garden, guided tour, photographic permissions fee, picnic lunch and coach travel (a 4 hour round trip through some of Central Scotland's most beautiful countryside).
Coaches leave University at 9:00; arrive at Little Sparta around 11:00; 3 hours in the garden; arrive back in Dundee approx. 16:00.
Website: http://www.littlesparta.org.uk

Helen Keen: It Is Rocket Science! (Wednesday 13 August at 6pm, D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum)
Cost: £5
Award-winning comedian and BBC Radio 4 star Helen Keen returns to the University with a special show to accompany the word and image conference Riddles of Form.
"A sort of stand-up version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (The Times)
Website: www.helenkeen.com

'The Science of Whisky Tasting' and special screening of Ken Loach's The Angels' Share (evening of Wednesday 13 August, 2014; University Tower Foyer and D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre)
Cost: £12
Includes: presentation on Whisky Tasting, by local specialists Fraser's of Commercial Street, Dundee; 4 drams of different whiskies matched to various nibbles; special screening presented by Dr Brian Hoyle afterwards.
Whisky Tasting at 7:30; Special Screening at 8:30.

Conference Dinner at Malmaison, Dundee (Friday 15 August from 7:30)
Cost £40
Venue: the function room of the magnificently restored Tay Hotel building, one of Dundee city centre's architectural gems. Includes a three course dinner and a half bottle of wine.
https://www.malmaison.com/locations/dundee/

Visit our registration site to book. Please note that the Helen Keen event must be separately booked here.

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