Updated 24 June 2010

We are pleased to announce the Second Universitas 21 Digital Humanities conference to be held at the University of Birmingham from 15th to 17th September 2010.

Culture and Heritage is a core research theme for U21 institutions and the application of technology within the Arts is a strategic issue for the group and central to the development of our disciplines. To support initiatives associated with digital heritage, U21 sponsored, initially, a workshop in Virginia aimed at defining shared interests and mutual development opportunities for U21 partners. The meeting on "Digital Humanities" at Virginia was extremely successful demonstrating that our institutions were enthusiastic for collaboration, and a need to establish a formal U21 grouping related to Culture, Heritage and Technology.

The University of Birmingham invites U21 members to travel to Birmingham and participate in a conference on the theme of "Cultural Heritage and Technology". Please note that the organisers still welcome further offers of papers from participating institutions by 16 July 2010.The draft programme includes the following sessions.

• Working with Objects in the 21st Century and Teaching Environments
  
• Culture, Environment and Sustainability
  
• New Dimensions in Working with Text
  
• Behaviour
  

The Birmingham meeting aims to create a step change in links between U21 Arts groups and representatives will also be invited to discuss and develop the actions identified in Virginia. These include:

• Formalisation of a U21 Network for "Cultural Heritage And Technology" (CHAT)
  
• Opportunities provided by a U21 Digital Heritage educational network and shared resources and teaching activities
  
• The potential for collaborative U21 research projects on Digital Heritage themes and the opportunities for joint research funding.

Representatives from US and UK research funding groups will be present at the meeting.

Colleagues are invited to Birmingham to present papers or to attend the conference as a delegate and explore the opportunities for collaboration with U21 partners. The conference will have a full social itinerary including

• Conference dinner in the Town Hall, a Grade 1 listed building in Birmingham City Centre
  
• Opportunity to visit The World Heritage Site at Ironbridge
  
• Opportunity to visit the Eton Myers collection of Egyptian art (see attached flyer)
  
• Opportunity to visit the British Science Festival hosted by the City of Birmingham
  
• Guided Walking Tour of Birmingham City Centre
  
• Birmingham Heritage Tour on hydrogen powered canal boat
  

There are no fees for conference attendance. Although the deadline for applying for bursaries has now passed, please note that the conference organisers might still consider strong applications for co-funding. Please email any request to Professor Vincent Gaffney.

Registration is now open. Please go to the conference website for more information, including a provisional programme and further information about accommodation.

Those wishing to present a paper associated with the Digital Heritage theme should send an abstract of up to 250 words by July 16, 2010 to this address. Please include a title and the author/s name, email contact and affiliation. Please also nominate the themes your paper most closely addresses.

We look forward to meeting you in Birmingham!

The Organising Committee