This symposium will explore approaches to heritage interpretation in both physical and digital domains, with a focus on museums, cultural tourism, education, and entertainment contexts. This interdisciplinary, international symposium will connect fields including critical heritage studies, folkloristics, digital media and games studies, area studies, and beyond. A focus will be on drawing connections and facilitating exchange of ideas and perspectives between scholars and practitioners in the U.S. and internationally. Conference organizers have a particular research focus on Serbia and the Balkans, and we are especially interested in submissions that come from this region. This gathering will allow heritage scholars and professionals the opportunity to address preservationist, educational, advocacy, and commercial approaches to heritage interpretation. Possible topics might include, but are not limited to:
- Developing museum and heritage site interpretation
- Developing museum apps and games based on folklore and intangible cultural heritage
- Approaches to adapting cultural heritage into commercial video games
- Efforts to preserve tangible heritage using immersive media (extended reality or XR)
- Developing archives to preserve and disseminate cultural heritage
- Developing heritage education resources
- Digital and interactive storytelling projects based on folklore taking place in schools and cultural organizations
- Institutional approaches to developing digital heritage collaborations and infrastructure
The symposium will be held July 15-18, 2027 at Arkansas State University, Jonesboro. It is sponsored by A-State’s Jonesboro’s Heritage Studies Ph.D. Program with the University of Central Florida’s Games and Interactive Media program. This symposium is a special event that helps commemorate 25 years of heritage studies at A-State. This will be a hybrid symposium so that those who cannot travel to Jonesboro, Arkansas in person will also be able to participate.
Interested participants can propose one of several different types of presentation: individual conference paper (20-25 minutes) or panel (3-4 thematically-linked individual conference papers and a discussant); roundtable discussion (3-5 participants and a moderator); workshop (a short, approximately 1 hour mini-class on a method or tool); or exhibition (poster presentation or project display).
Proposals are due December 1, 2026 and should be emailed to the following address: natalie.underberggoode@gmail.com. Include the subject heading: Heritage Interpretation Across Physical and Digital Space symposium.
Natalie Underberg-Goode 