The Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (TRAC) is an academic organisation and conference for the discussion of archaeological theory in Roman archaeology.
History The first Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference was organised by Eleanor Scott and was hosted by the Department of Archaeology at the University of Newcastle in March 1991. The conference had been created by Scott to address the shortcomings of traditional Roman archaeology through critical, theory-driven discussions inspired by the Theoretical Archaeology Group conferences. The conference was a success and, due to interest, became an annual conference hosted by different archaeology departments annually across the UK, Europe and North America.
Since 1995, the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference have partnered with the Roman Archaeology Conference (RAC), which is organised by the Roman Society. The collaboration began at University of Reading, establishing a biannual arrangement where the RAC played a role in helping to organise TRAC.
TRAC initially concentrated on Romanisation debates, especially in the 1990s. Since the early 2000s, however, discussions have increasingly shifted to post-imperial and post-colonial perspectives of the Roman world. Since the 2010s, TRAC has attempted to expand its outreach and appeal internationally.
Many TRAC participants are early career researchers or postgraduates who present their own original research. Andrew Gardner highlighted a gender imbalance at TRAC in 2005, but Eleanor Scott later noted that TRAC provided equal opportunities to female archaeologists.
TRAC was initially published as conference proceedings but became an online open access journal, the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal, under the Open Library of Humanities from 2017 onwards.
List of TRAC Annual Meetings The Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conferences and joint Roman Archaeology Conferences (RAC) have been held or planned at the following institutions or cities: YearMeeting SequenceHost Institution / CityConference DatesAarhus University21-23 MayTRAC 202522-24 OctoberUniversity College London11-14 AprilUniversity of Exeter27-29 AprilSplit6-8 AprilUniversity of Kent11-14 AprilUniversity of Edinburgh12-14 AprilDurham University28-31 MarchSapienza Università di Roma16-19 MarchUniversity of Leicester27-29 MarchUniversity of Reading28-30 MarchKing's College London4-6 AprilUniversity of Frankfurt29 March-1 AprilUniversity of Newcastle14-17 AprilUniversity of Oxford25-28 MarchUniversity of Southampton17–18 AprilUniversity of Michigan3-5 April University of Amsterdam4-6 MarchUniversity College London29 March -1 AprilUniversity of Cambridge24-25 MarchUniversity of Birmingham31 March - 3 AprilDurham University26-27 MarchUniversity of Leicester3-6 AprilUniversity of Kent5-6 AprilUniversity of Glasgow29-31 MarchUniversity College London6-7 AprilDurham UniversityAprilUniversity of LeicesterAprilUniversity of NottinghamAprilUniversity of Sheffield30-31 MarchUniversity of ReadingDurham UniversityMarchUniversity of GlasgowUniversity of Bradford28-29 MarchNewcastle University23–24 March
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External links
Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference