Thursday 12th November 2009, 1430 hrs

Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), Redlands Road, Reading

The symposium was a round table discussion on themes related to and implicit in the Stenton Lecture.  The symposium focussed on the issues and challenges of curating and presenting collections which were formed in the 18th century (antiquarian and ‘Enlightenment’ collections) or the 19th (‘The Virtual Museum’) or early 20th centuries, often with imperialist agendas, into the globalised 21st century.

Key note speakers included: Dr Alan Borg (previously Director of the V&A and Imperial War Museum), Dr Charles Gore (SOAS), Professor Deborah Swallow (Director, Courtauld Institute) and Dr John Whiteley (The Ashmolean).

The symposium took place at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) on London Road, Reading.