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Call for Papers: Northeast Conference on British Studies 2010 Annual Meeting, Burlington, Vermont, USA

The Northeast Conference on British Studies (NECBS) will hold its annual meeting in 2010 in Burlington, Vermont on Friday and Saturday, September 24 and 25. We solicit the participation of scholars in all areas of British Studies, broadly defined. In particular, we welcome proposals for interdisciplinary panels that draw on the work of historians, literary critics, and scholars in other disciplines whose focus is on Britain and its empire, from the Middle Ages to the present. Proposals for entire panels on a com-mon theme will be given priority, although individual paper proposals will also be considered if several of them can be assembled to create a viable panel. Proposals for roundtable discussions of a topical work, or current issue in the field, or pedagogical practices with respect to the teaching of particular aspects of British Studies are also encouraged.

The typical ninety-minute panel will include three papers, each lasting fifteen to twenty minutes, a chair and a commentator. Roundtables may have a looser format. Proposals should include a general description of the panel or roundtable (including an overall title), a 200-300 word abstract for each paper to be read, and a one-page curriculum vitae for each participant. The address, phone number and e-mail address of every participant (including the chair and commentator) must be included in the proposal. For panel or roundtable proposals the name of the main contact person should be noted clearly. Electronic submissions (as e-mail attachments in Word) are preferred, with all the various materials presented in a single document. The deadline for receipt of completed submissions is 15 March 2010. Proposals should be submitted to mrhunt@amherst.edu. For the full CFP see here.

Posted 1 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: Death, Commemoration and Memory: an Exploration of Representation, Concept and Change

Thursday 24 and Friday 25 June 2010

The Death, Commemoration and Memory (DCM) Research Group is based within the School of Arts, Culture and Environment at the University of Edinburgh. Founded in 2008, DCM provides a forum for postgraduates and staff whose research engages with any aspect of the Group’s remit, attracting junior and senior scholars from a variety of academic disciplines. Building upon the Group’s success, a two‐day conference is planned in Edinburgh for June 2010 to provide a platform for further interdisciplinary discussion and to create new networks between researchers across the UK. Topics for discussion may include, but are not limited to:

  • Acts of commemoration, mourning practices and rituals
  • The social aspects of individual memory, collective memories and cultural attitudes towards memory
  • The ethics and etiquette of death studies: the treatment of human remains in archaeology, pathology and museum practice
  • Death in the visual arts: commemoration through architectural and artistic practices
  • Poetic, literary and musical interpretations of death
  • The dichotomy between history and memory
  • Psychological and sociological studies of bereavement

We welcome abstracts of 300 words on any aspect of the conference’s themes, accompanied by a short academic resume of 200 words maximum. Applications should be sent to dcm.ed@hotmail.co.uk with ‘DCM CONFERENCE’ as the email’s subject. Submission deadline: 12 March 2010.

Posted 27 January | back to the top

Call for Papers: Postgraduate Workshop on the English Reformation

2 June 2010, The University of Liverpool

This is a call for papers on any aspect of the English Reformation for a one day postgraduate research workshop. The date is 2 June 2010. The papers are to be approximately 20 minutes long and can cover any aspect of the English Reformation. This is a great opportunity for postgraduates to share their research and receive feedback in a friendly, supportive environment.

If you would like to hear more about the event, express interest for attendance or wish to propose a paper please contact Ryan Clayton.

Posted 27 January | back to the top

Call for Papers: Waterloo to Desert Storm: New Thinking on International Conflict, 1815-1991

Scottish Centre for War Studies at the University of Glasgow, 24 and 25 June 2010

Proposals (c.300 words) for papers of 20 minutes should be submitted to Ms Ulrike Thieme at u.thieme.1@research.gla.ac.uk by Thursday 15th April 2010. There are no registration costs, and accommodation can be arranged by the organisers. There may be limited funds available to refund travel costs, but delegates are encouraged to apply to their host institutions for assistance. We welcome contact from anyone who wishes to attend the conference.

For further information see the conference listing here, or contact Ulrike Thieme.

Posted 19 January | back to the top

Call for Papers: Women’s History Scotland 2010 Annual Conference

Women in / on the Land (Scape):Gender, Space and Environment in Women's and Gender History

15-16 October 2010, UHI Centre for History (University of the Highlands and Islands project), Dornoch, Scotland

For this annual conference of Women’s History Scotland we will be in the Highlands; hence the focus of this event on women’s relationship with the land and landscape. We welcome proposals for papers (20 minutes) which engage with this theme over historical time and place. Proposals are not limited to Scottish themes (though papers addressing Highland and Island themes are especially welcome) and we invite comparative and non-Scottish topics.

We invite proposals from scholars at all stages of their careers and from independent researchers. Topics may include (but are not limited to): Women in rural communities; women, gender and urban and rural space; gender relations and land-use; environmental change and its impact on gender relations; representations of women and men in the landscape; gender and landscape design and architecture; demography and the land; land ownership, gender and property; the gendering of work on the land.

Proposals (300 words) for 20 minute papers should be submitted to Karly Kehoe by 1 May 2010.

Posted 15 January | back to the top

Call for Papers: Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies Eighth Biennial International Conference

University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2-5 February 2011

Keynote speakers: Professor Alastair Minnis (Yale Unviersity) Professor Michael Hunter (Birkbeck College) Professor Frances E. Dolan (University of California at Davis) Professor Dauvit Broun (Glasgow University.

We wish to invite proposals for papers and panels for ANZAMEMS 2011. We would like to encourage papers and panels in the broadly-defined academic disciplines of medieval and early modern studies, including but not limited to history, literary studies, music, art history, theology and religious studies, cultural studies, philosophy, science, medicine, maritime studies, performance studies, gender studies. We particularly welcome and encourage papers from graduate students and early career researchers. Proposals for full panels are very welcome. These should include three proposed speakers, and, if possible, a chair and/or a respondent. Individual papers will be grouped with two others. Parallel sessions will last an hour and a half, which means that papers should be no longer than 20 minutes each to leave sufficient time for discussion.

The final deadline for proposals is 3 September 2010, but early submissions are encouraged. Proposals should contain a title, an abstract of your paper (200 words), and your name, contact details, and institutional affiliation. Participants who need to make travel arrangements are welcome to submit their proposals early and the convenors will assess their abstracts promptly. Proposals should be sent to anzamems2011@otago.ac.nz. Further information may be sought from the convenors – Dr Simone Celine Marshall, Dr Judith Collard and Professor Peter Anstey – or from our website.

Posted 6 January | back to the top

Call for Papers: Red Stones: the Lives and Afterlives of Colonial Cemeteries

Centre for the Study of Colonial and Post-colonial Societies University of Bristol

Cemeteries: sites of celebration, mourning, anxiety, anger, nostalgia even. This workshop will bring together scholars from a number of disciplines to explore ways in which we understand the cemetery as a colonial site, as a site of colonial or postcolonial enactments, and of individual human grief. For more details please see this attachment, to register attendance or offer a paper, please contact: Professor Robert Bickers, Dept of History, School of Humanities, University of Bristol.

Posted 18 December | back to the top

Call for Papers: Southern Conference on British Studies 2010 Meeting

5-7 November 2010, Charlotte, NC

The Southern Conference on British Studies solicits proposals for its 2010 meeting to be held 5–7 November 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The SCBS will meet in conjunction with the Southern Historical Association. The SCBS construes British Studies widely and invites participation by scholars in all areas of British history and culture, including the Empire or Commonwealth and the British Isles. Interdisciplinary approaches and proposals which focus broadly on teaching British studies are especially welcome.

Proposals may consist of individual papers or of papers grouped for a session. For session proposals, two, or, preferably, three papers should relate to a common theme, not necessarily bound by the usual chronological framework. For each paper proposed, please submit an abstract of 200 to 300 words, indicating the thesis of the paper, the sources and methodology employed in research, and how it enhances or expands knowledge of its subject. Papers should have a reading time of 20–25 minutes. Also, please submit a curriculum vitae for each participant.

Proposals should be postmarked by 15 March 2010 and mailed to Dr. William Anthony Hay, Department of History, P.O. Box H, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762. Inquiries are welcome at wilhay6248@aol.com, but please do not send proposals by email or fax.

Posted 18 January | back to the top

Call for Papers: The Material Life of Things Project

In recent years, the evidence of technical and material analysis has become increasingly important to art-historical interpretation. Beyond their traditional role in informing the restoration of artefacts, technical investigations have greatly contributed to our understanding of how works of art were made. Yet, less critical attention has been paid to the ‘use-life’ of artefacts – that is, to the manipulation, exchange and consumption of artefacts throughout their life histories. Drawing together researchers from different areas of expertise including curators and conservators, this research project aims to explore the material lives of artefacts in a variety of media, encouraging object-based, methodological and theoretical discussions relating to the shifting relationship between artefacts, people and environments throughout the life history of particular objects or classes of objects.

As part of the Material Life of Things, scholars working across the discipline are invited to join a research group to discuss various topics and address methodological questions within the theme of The Material Life of Things. The group will consist of 15-20 scholars meeting in the academic years 2009-10 and 2010-11, starting in spring 2010. Group members will be asked to develop a research project with a view to publishing the findings at the end of the designated period. Plenary sessions in which all group members will participate will be followed by small group discussions (4/5 members) in which individual projects and papers will be discussed. Group members will also be asked to participate in symposia to take place during the time span of the project, including a final international two-day symposium. A collection of essays presenting the results of the project is also planned. Applications to join the research group are welcome from scholars at all stages of their career: from current graduate students to established scholars.

Scholars applying to join the research group are asked to submit a proposal of 300 words on a topic that they wish to develop over the course of the project. We encourage proposals that address both object-based and theoretical/methodological issues. Topics are welcome from all periods and could address any aspect of The Material Life of Things, with the issues above providing a general starting point. Deadline for applications: 12 March 2010. Applicants should send a CV, covering letter and a proposal of not more than 300 words detailing how they would develop their topic over the period of the project. Applications should be addressed to Professor Caroline Arscott, Head of Research, and sent c/o Cynthia de Souza, Research Forum, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN. The Research Forum will contribute towards the costs of attending the seminars.

For further information please see here. For enquiries relating to application procedures including any copies of applications being sent via email, write to researchforum@courtauld.ac.uk; for any queries relating to the content and nature of the project, contact the organiser, Dr Francesco Lucchini.

Posted 1 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: 2010 Gladstone Conference

Friday 30 July – Sunday 1 August 2010, St Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden, Flint, near Chester

Offers of papers, on any aspect of Gladstone’s life and times, should be submitted by 1 April 2010 to Dr Roland Quinault, Institute of Historical Research, University of London.

Posted 1 February | back to the top

Edexcel is recruiting Examiners for GCE/GCSE History

Edexcel currently has a number of opportunities for History teachers and lecturers to join their assessment team and assist in the marking of the 2010 GCSE History examinations.

An assessment role with us would involve marking candidate’s responses to exam questions in accordance with the pre-defined mark scheme.

Most of our marking is done online, giving you the flexibility of working from home. Each examiner receives an agreed allocation of scripts before the marking period begins.

Examiner responsibilities:

  • To mark accurately and consistently to ensure overall standards are maintained
  • To submit samples to your Team Leader at designated times
  • To ensure milestones for marking are adhered to
  • To ensure all administration is completed as specified

As well as payment, all examiners receive full training and support throughout the marking period.
The marking period is between May and July, and examiners can expect to earn between £600 and £950 per examination series.  
 
For more information, and to take advantage of this opportunity, please visit our website. If you have any queries about our assessment roles, please email them to us.

Updated 17 March | back to the top

New Publication Series for French history

The Centre for French History and Culture of the University of St Andrews, together with the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at Florida State University and the University of London Institute in Paris, is pleased to announce the launch of a new publication series for French history.

The history and historical culture of the French-speaking world is a major field of interest among English-speaking scholars. The purpose of this series is to publish a range of shorter monographs and studies, between 25,000 and 50,000 words long, which illuminate the history of this community of peoples between the end of the Middle Ages and the late twentieth century. This series of midigraphs covers the full span of historical themes relating to France: from political history, through military/naval, diplomatic, religious, social, financial, cultural and intellectual history, art and architectural history, to literary culture. Titles in the series are rigorously peer-reviewed through the editorial board and external assessors, and are published as both e-books and paperbacks.

The first title, now available, is: “The New enfant du siècle: Joseph de Maistre as a Writer”, edited by Carolina Armenteros and Richard A. Lebrun (St Andrews, 2010: ISBN 978-1-907548-00-0 [paperback]; ISBN 978-1-907548-01-7 [e-book])

The titles in this series are FREE, and libraries are warmly invited to establish an e-book link in their catalogue systems to this series. To link your webbrowser or your university library to the series and its titles see here.

For further details on this series, and on how to publish in it, please contact the editor-in-chief, Dr Guy Rowlands, at the University of St Andrews.

Updated 2 February | back to the top

University of Kent – Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship Scheme

The School of History at the University of Kent intends to support an application in any area of history for the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship scheme (deadline 4pm, 11 March 2010).

Potential applicants are invited to send in a CV of 1 page and also a research proposal of 1000 words to the Head of School, Prof. Kenneth Fincham, no later than 5pm on 17 February 2010. Informal enquiries may be directed to Prof. Kenneth Fincham (Head of Department), Professor Crosbie Smith (Director of Research) or Professor David Welch (Director of Graduate Studies). For more information on the School, see here.

Updated 3 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: Medieval Art in Theory: A Conference

Friday, 18 June 2010, Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2

The Medieval Art in Theory project aims to find new ways of interrogating familiar objects by considering medieval art and architecture in the light of modern theoretical discourses. Following the series of workshops on the themes of Mise-en-Abyme, Framing, and Mimesis held during the last year, this one-day conference will revisit these topics and provide an opportunity to explore future directions for research within the overall remit of the project. The conference will include short papers with significant opportunity for discussion.

We invite proposals for papers on the topics of the workshops, particularly from those who attended them either as speakers or audience. The topics of the previous workshops will provide the focus of the first three sessions of the conference, whilst for the fourth session we invite submissions on any other topic in keeping with the aims of the Medieval Art in Theory project. It is hoped that this open session will also suggest subjects for future workshops. As always, we welcome papers on visual culture and art in all media from the late classical period to c.1400, in Western Europe and beyond.

Those interested in participating in the conference are strongly encouraged to visit the Medieval Art in Theory pages on the Research Forum website, which include further information about the aims of the project and an archive of papers from the previous sessions.

Proposals of 250 words for 20 minute papers together with a short statement about the author’s research interests should be sent to Laura Cleaver by 30 April 2010.

Wanted: Post-graduate to make up one third of a panel at the North American Conference on British Studies, 2010

We are looking for a PhD student with an interest in aspects of the British City to form a panel on the 'urban space' for the forthcoming NACBS in Baltimore in November 2010. You will be alongside Erika Hanna (Oxford), who works on the squatting movement in post-war-Dublin, and Kieran Connell (Birmingham), who works on representations of 'race' in inner-city Birmingham. A chair and commentator are already in place. For more information, please email Kieran.

Updated 8 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: Cultures of Correspondence in Early Modern Britain, 1550-1640

A Joint Conference organised by the Centre for Humanities, Music and Performing Arts at the University of Plymouth and the Centre for Early Modern Studies at the University of Aberdeen

This conference investigates the cultural uses of the letter, and the related practises of correspondence in early modern culture. Concentrating on the years 1550-1640, it examines a crucial period in the development of the English vernacular letter that saw a significant extension of letter-writing skills throughout society and an expansion in the uses to which letters were put. The conference aims to enhance our understanding of epistolary culture and to challenge accepted models of epistolarity through the study of letter-writing practices in all their nuanced complexity, ranging from the textual production of letters, their subsequent delivery and circulation, to the various ways in which letters were read and preserved for posterity. The transmission and reception of correspondence is a major theme for exploration, from the various processes by which letters were delivered in an age before the post office, to their copying and dissemination in manuscript form, and publication in print, as well as the oral divulgation of letters through group and public reading. Study of the early modern letter in its material and cultural forms can reveal the complex interplay of material practices of letter-writing with rhetorical strategies of the letter text. Contemporary literary appropriations of the letter on page and stage demonstrate the cultural significance of the letter and its potential resonances.

Proposals for papers, including titles and abstracts (of no more than 300 words) should be sent to James Daybell and Andrew Gordon before 1 July 2010.

Updated 8 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: The British Society of Sports History Annual Conference

10–11 September 2010, hosted by the Wellcome Collection, London

We are pleased to invite you to the 28th Annual Conference of the British Society of Sports History from 10–11 September 2010. The conference will take place at the Wellcome Collection which is situated in central London near to Euston Station. The conference will be open themed. Papers should be a maximum of 20 minutes in length with ten minutes for questions and discussion. Abstracts should be no longer than 200 words and should be sent to the Conference Committee by Friday 9 April 2010. Ideas for Specialist Panels will also be strongly considered.

We would also strongly encourage postgraduates to submit abstracts. The Richard W. Cox Postgraduate Prize will be awarded for the best paper presented by a postgraduate student. Please indicate when you submit your abstract if you wish to be considered for this award. The conference will receive the Sir Derek Birley Annual Memorial Lecture and a special lecture from the most recent winner of The Lord Aberdare Book Prize. Registration details and information will be posted on our website shortly. Abstracts, registrations and all other queries should be sent here.

Updated 10 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: Seminars on Early Modern Preaching: King David

A One-Day Colloquium, University of Reading, Saturday 6 November, 2010

No biblical figure provided early modern preachers with such various material for their sermons as King David: from the young champion to the king ‘old and full of days’, David was the loyal subject who would not ‘touch the Lord’s anointed’, and the broken-hearted father of Absalom. Through the stories of David and Jonathan, David and Saul, David and Michal, David and Bathsheba, and David and Absalom, early modern preachers could explore relationships that were public and political, and those that were intimate and passionate. God said of David that he was ‘a man after my own heart’, and yet David’s flaws were revealed by Nathan the prophet, who said ‘you are the man’. David, as the reputed author of the psalms, lies in the background of the most popular source of biblical text for early modern preachers, and his stories are often invoked to explain the expressions of piety, fear, anger, and joy that the psalms contain.

We invite papers on any aspect of King David in early modern preaching: David in political sermons (on obedience or rebellion); David in penitential sermons; David in marriage sermons; David in sermons on the doctrine of grace; David as a ‘type’ of Christ; David as the author of biblical texts, and David’s example of the ‘literary’ styles suited to prayer, liturgy, and preaching.

This colloquium is the third in the Seminars in Early Modern Preaching series, which aims to provide a scholarly forum for all those working on all aspects of early modern English sermons. We invite proposals for 30-minute papers. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words. Please e-mail submissions to Dr Mary Morrissey and Dr Hugh Adlington. Due date for submissions: 15 June 2010.

Updated 10 February | back to the top

Humanities PhD Studentships at Northumbria University

The Department of Humanities is delighted to invite applications for 15 University-funded Studentships. The Postgraduate Research Studentships are being awarded in the disciplines of History, and Creative Writing, English Literature and Linguistics. Successful candidates will be awarded a full fee waiver (home and EU students only) and £5,000 per annum bursary for three years (all students, including international), to commence in September 2010. The Postgraduate Research Studentships have been designed to provide students with:

  • High quality supervision from experts in their field
  • Access to a programme of high-quality employability training
  • Involvement in a vibrant research culture within the Department.

Successful applicants will receive:

  • A full fee waiver (home and EU students only)
  • £5K per annum bursary for 3 years (all students, including international)
  • A 30-hour teaching preparation course involving teaching practice and shadowing of experienced staff
  • Guaranteed teaching hours in years 2 and 3 of the programme
  • A dedicated work station within a good quality working environment
  • Access to funds to support research expenses (conferences or library visits).

Further Particulars and Applying: We are looking to recruit candidates of the highest quality, with the capability of submitting excellent theses within the standard PhD duration of 3 years. You will need to demonstrate a strong performance in your first degree (probably a first) as well as a good MA qualification. We will, however, consider applicants straight from undergraduate degrees where there is evidence of exceptional academic ability. Prospective candidates from overseas should contact us concerning entry requirements. Once you have chosen your thesis topic, please apply to gill.drinkald@northumbria.ac.uk (Telephone +44 (0) 191 227 3880) for further particulars and the relevant application form. The closing date for applications is 18 March 2010.

Updated 10 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: Thought in Science and Fiction

International Conference of ISSEI, to be held in cooperation with the Çankaya University, Ankara, Turkey, 2 – 6 August, 2010

Scientific knowledge is so vitally important for the welfare of mankind that it no longer needs any justification. Nevertheless, the negative consequences of science and technology require continual vigilance. This vigilance need not necessarily lead to the radical reductionism that posits science as just another ‘fiction’. As suggested by the theme of the 11th ISSEI conference in Helsinki, 2008, Language and the Scientific Imagination, we must foster the dialogue between science and literature in order to show their crucial interdependence. The pivotal role of language in ‘the two cultures’ is based on our conception of thought and is commonly believed to originate in sense perception. What we call fiction is thus the free rearrangement of our perceptual thought in language.

If you would like to participate in the conference by presenting a paper in one or more of the workshops please note the following. Papers should not exceed 3000 words or 10 double spaced pages, including Notes. Notes need not be included in the presentation of the papers but they should be in the version intended for the proceedings. The deadline of submitting your abstract to a workshop is 15 April 2010. To whom shall I submit my paper? On the conference website you will find a list of approximately 80 workshops with Chairs from over 30 countries. Papers should be submitted to the workshop Chair. If you are not sure for which Workshop(s) your paper(s) would be most suitable please send a short abstract of your paper to Prof. Ezra Talmor. He will then suggest a workshop Chair for you to contact.

See here for the full Call for Papers.

Updated 10 February | back to the top

Chair in English Local History

Centre for English Local History, School of Historical Studies, University of Leicester

Available from 1 October 2010

The School of Historical Studies wishes to appoint a scholar of international distinction, to provide leadership for the Centre for English Local History. Scholars are sought who have a specialism in any area of local or regional history, from the early medieval period to the present day. Individuals should have a reputation for world-leading research in addition to a record of obtaining significant research grant income and a successful record of supervising PhD students.

For further information and to apply on-line, please visit our website.

Updated 15 February | back to the top

20th Century British History Essay Prize

Oxford Journals is pleased to invite entries to Twentieth Century British History's annual Essay Prize. The aim of the TCBH Essay Prize is to encourage a high standard of scholarship amongst postgraduate research students. The competition is open to anyone currently registered for a higher research degree, or who completed one no earlier than October 2009. The author of the winning essay will receive:

  • Publication of the winning essay in Twentieth Century British History
  • A cash prize of £300
  • £200 worth of OUP books
  • One year's free subscription to Twentieth Century British History

Please feel free to pass this message on to your colleagues and students. The closing date for submissions is 15 October 2010. Full details and an essay prize entry form can be located here.

Updated 16 February | back to the top

The Personality Cults of Modern Dictators

Institute for Germanic and Romance Studies, University of London, 22-23 October 2010

Almost all modern dictators are the subject of personality cults that are highly organised even if they often also rest on spontaneous contributions. By creating a narrative of exceptionality around an individual they harness support and help consolidate a regime. The forms cults take depend on national traditions and histories, patterns of gender relations, and the existence or otherwise of an articulated civil society. In this sense, they are cultural as much as political phenomena. The highly specific nature of each cult means that comparative work is rare. The aim of this conference is to compare different aspects of many cults of personality, and, by so doing, raise new hypotheses of research and lay the foundations for new potential interdisciplinary collaborations.

Keynote addresses will be delivered on some of the key precursors of twentieth century dictators: Maria Wyke (UCL) on Julius Caesar and his legacies, Sudhir Hazareesingh (Balliol College , Oxford) on the legend of Napoleon, and Lucy Riall (Birkbeck College , London) on Garibaldi. This conference will be held as the final event of the AHRC research project ‘The Cult of the Duce: Mussolini and the Italians 1918 - 2005’.

Among the themes that will be explored at the conference are the following:

  • Dictators and their publics
  • Dictators, architecture and the visual arts
  • Dictators and the mass media
  • Life and death narratives of dictators
  • Dictators’ bodies and private lives
  • Masculinity and dictatorship
  • Dictators and religion
  • Dictators’ costumes
  • Dictators in popular memory
  • Dictators in film and literature
  • Dictators, power and constitutions

Proposals for papers of twenty minutes are invited on European, Central and South American, African, Middle Eastern, and Asian dictators.Contributions are welcomed from historians, political scientists, sociologists, specialists in film, literature, photography and the press, as well as scholars with an interest in gender, performance and leadership. Papers may treat aspects of one or more personality cults. Proposals should be between 300 and 500 words long and should indicate the institution of the speaker and his or her academic position (eg. Professor, Lecturer, PhD candidate etc.). Offers of papers should be sent by 1 June 2010 to one of the organisers: Christopher Duggan (c.j.h.duggan@reading.ac.uk), Stephen Gundle (s.gundle@warwick.ac.uk) and Giuliana Pieri (g.pieri@rhul.ac.uk). Material from the AHRC project including documentary films will be presented in the course of the event. The programme of the conference will be published in July 2010. The conference fee, payable by all speakers and attendees, will be £40 for one day and £70 for two days.

Updated 16 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: Re-creating Renaissance and Baroque Spectacle: The Hispanic Habsburg Dynasty in Context

6–7 July 2010, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

The organisers of this two-day conference seek contributions related to any aspect of Early Modern European festivals and are especially interested in proposals which relate to the festivals of the Hispanic Habsburg dynasty. Proposals from any field of the Humanities in a broad sense are welcome, with an emphasis on, but not limited to, the visual arts, music and performing arts. Ultimately, we are interested in any study that would bring back the pageantry and senses of those magnificent events.

The Keynote speaker is Prof. Fernando Checa Cremades, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain. Prof. Checa Cremades is one the most important international voices in the study of Renaissance and Golden Age art patronage in Europe. Among his many achievements, he is a former director of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Dr. Alexander Samson from the University College of London has confirmed his attendance. He is due to publish a book entitled: Mary Tudor and the Habsburg Marriage: England and Spain 1553–1557.

Submissions should include a 300 word abstract in English or Spanish and a 200 word CV, and should be emailed as an attachment. The deadline for proposals is 1 April 2010. Notification of acceptance will be made before 1 May 2010. See here for the full call for papers.

Updated 23 February | back to the top

Update on plans for new research and reading room, Sammy Ofer Wing, National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is planning a major new wing. Scheduled to open in 2012 in time for the London Olympics, the custom-designed exhibition spaces and highly accessible archives will drive a sea change in the way the Museum presents its programme to an ever-growing volume of visitors, both from within the UK and internationally.

For further information about the plans for the new reading room and library provision, including what it will be like and how many books will be available on open access, see here. For general information about the new wing, including photos of the construction site, see here.

Updated 25 February | back to the top

The Sixties in National and Transnational Perspectives: Communications and Protest Movements, 1956-1977

16 and 17 September, 2010. School of History, St Andrews University

The Centre for Transnational History at St Andrews is hosting a two-day workshop on the relationship between protestors and mass media in the sixties period (1956-1977). We welcome proposals which focus on the significance of mass media and communications networks in national and transnational contexts.

Professor Frank Bösch of the University of Giessen will deliver the keynote, a thematic paper which attempts to conceptualise the role of mass media in the social and political history of the sixties. For further information about this event, please consult our website. Applications should be sent to crh2@st-andrews.ac.uk. The deadline for receipt of admissions is 31 March 2010.

Updated 25 February | back to the top

Courtauld Study Tour: Rome and the East: Politics, Power and Religion from the Birth of Christianity until 1300

Friday 26 March – Sunday 28 March 2010

Dr Eileen Rubery

This three day study tour will explore relations between Rome and the East from the time that S Peter and S Paul came to Rome up until the time that the papacy moved to France at the beginning of the 14th century. It will consider the ‘Christianisation’ of Rome following Constantine the Great’s conversion, how the art in Rome, much of it glittering mosaics, reflects struggles with the eastern Empire over the nature of the balance between Christ’s humanity and Divinity. This period includes the time of ‘Byzantine Rome’ and the effect the Papacy’s defence of iconoclasm had on Roman art, including a consideration of ‘Carolingian’ Rome.

The tour will include the church of Sta Maria Antiqua, (a complete church in the Roman Forum from the 6th- 9th century, full of frescoes with many eastern features, including the only western example of tetramorph angels) and the Temple of Romulus, neither of which are normally open to the public, the necropolis under S Peter’s including S Peter’s Tomb, the catacombs of S Priscilla (which include many of the earliest Christian images from the 3rd and 4th centuries); S Clemente, S Maria Maggiore, S Costanza and the Pope’s sancta sanctorum, (the lavishly decorated private chapel of the Popes in the Lateran complex; also with restricted access).

See here for a provisional programme.

For further details contact edr1001@cam.ac.uk or The Courtauld Institute London AC2R 0RN (tel. 0207 848 2678). 

Updated 25 February | back to the top

Call for Papers: Reading Anthologies in Renaissance Europe (1450-1650)

Trinity College Dublin, 19–21 July 2010

Trinity College Dublin Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies, University of Liverpool

As print culture developed through the Renaissance, authors, printers and editors quickly came to exploit the commerical and literary potential of compendia and anthologies. These works took many different forms: ‘recueils’, ‘œuvres’, ‘poésies choisies’, song books, joke collections. In both printed or manuscript form, anthologies circulated in sixteenth-century Europe in Latin and the vernacular.

This conference will explore the factors that governed the production, circulation and reception of anthologies in the Europe of the Long Renaissance. What editorial and commercial imperatives drove their appearance? What cultural practices arose from their publication? How are the cultural practices of the anthology related to or different from those of collected and multi-part works? How did readers react to the concept of multi-authored works?

Proposals of up to 300 words for a 20-minute paper (proportionately longer for panels) should be sent to conference organisers Sara Barker and Pollie Bromilow by 31 March 2010.For the full call for papers see here.

Updated 1 March | back to the top

British Australian Studies Association (BASA) relaunches 'Australian Studies'

The British Australian Studies Association (BASA) is delighted to announce that its journal, 'Australian Studies', has been successfully relaunched as a free online resource under the auspices of the National Library of Australia. The current issue of the journal can be accessed here.

BASA also invites proposals from its members for financial support for Australian Studies related events in Britain; further details about this, the journal, other activities and joining the Association can be found at the BASA website.

Updated 1 March | back to the top

MA Public History open day RHUL

On 30 March 1-4pm Royal Holloway, University of London will be hosting an open day for prospective students for the MA Public History - see website for details.

Speakers will include Lucy Worsley, chief curator of historic royal palaces and Tristram Hunt, historian and broadcaster.

To register for a place please email Dr Anna Whitelock.

Updated 2 March | back to the top

Podcast of Research Co-operation in Practice Conference.

The conference, marking the first PhD submissions by holders of the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA), provided an opportunity to reflect upon the initial successes and challenges of the scheme. As well as discussing experience and benefits of cross-institutional research, several panels were dedicated to the sharing of research carried out under the scheme. In addition, a public debate held at Tate Britain reflected more generally upon inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional research collaboration. The conference was aimed at researchers and practitioners involved in an existing CDA project and those who are interested in setting up a new one.

To listen to the recording of the public debate go to http://www.tate.org.uk -> Tate Channel -> Tate Channel on iTunes -> Tate Events -> No 137 26 February 2009 'Collaborative Research: New Knowledge and New Challenges'

Updated 2 March | back to the top

Call for Papers: Angles 2: Another Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference on Cultural History

Birkbeck, University of London Saturday 19 June 2010

Following the success of the first Angles conference in 2009, we are returning in 2010 with another one-day event and the launch of an online network for research students working in the field of cultural history.

The aim of the conference is to bring together a range of postgraduate perspectives on cultural history from across the disciplinary spectrum. The focus will be on unusual topics or unconventional approaches to otherwise familiar topics. For instance, papers might deal with cultural practices that have been neglected by traditional history, or engage with emerging fields, trends or themes that may have been overlooked by existing scholarship. We would especially welcome papers that reflect on the challenges of dealing with discipline-specific responses to the way in which you approach your topic, or the particular advantages or limitations of taking on an unusual topic.

We invite all interested contributors to submit proposals for 20 minute papers. Please send a 200 word abstract, including your name, designation, institutional affiliation and thesis title (if applicable) to angles.postgrad@gmail.com no later than Saturday 17 April 2010.

Thanks to funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), we are able to offer six travel bursaries of up to £50 each to enable research students from outside London to attend the conference. We will be receiving applications for the bursaries when registration for the conference opens in May.

Updated 2 March | back to the top

AHRC-funded Collaborative PhD Studentship: the Strategic and Tactical role of Cable and Wireless during the Second World War

School of Geography, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus and Porthcurno Telegraph Museum

Following the award of an extended programme of AHRC Collaborative PhD Studentships, the University of Exeter, in partnership with Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified applicant for a doctoral studentship for three years commencing on 1 October 2010.

The overall theme of the extended programme is 'Themes in the Historical Geography of Communication: the Eastern Telegraph Company to Cable and Wireless, 1869-1945'. Of the three PhD projects identified under this broad theme, one started in October 2008 (Visual Culture and the Making of Corporate Identity) and another started in October 2009 (Entwined business and imperial histories) and the remaining project will commence in October 2010.

In order to apply you will need to complete an online web form where you must submit some personal details and upload a full CV, covering letter and details of 2 referees. Your covering letter should outline your academic interests, prior research experience and reasons for wishing to undertake this project. If you have any general enquiries about the application process please email Helen Pisarska or phone +44(0)1392 723310. The closing date is 12 noon Monday 19 April 2010. Interviews are likely to be held over two days on 24 and 25 May 2010.

See here for full application details.

Updated 2 March | back to the top

Call for Papers: 44th Exeter Maritime History Conference

18-19 September 2010

What does the sea mean to different communities? A boundary? A livelihood? An unknown and dangerous ‘other’? A place of leisure and enjoyment? How have different imagined communities envisaged their relationship with the sea? This conference will focus on the relationship between the sea and identity in widest possible sense, naval or maritime; local, regional, national or international; gender and sexuality; fact, film or fiction. It will look beyond the usual nationalistic rhetoric to explore how identity has been moulded by attitude to and relationships with the sea. The conference will interrogate the idea of identity in its various manifestations in order to examine the importance of the sea to different audiences.

The conference seeks to provide a collegial and supportive environment in which to promote new and interdisciplinary research from researchers at all stages of their careers. Papers on any aspect of naval or maritime identities; the sea and the way it is perceived, imagined or memorialised; or the relationship between communities and the sea are most strongly encouraged.

To apply, please forward a 300 word abstract of the proposed paper, together with a one page CV, to: Dr Duncan Redford, Department of History, University of Exeter, Rennes Drive, EX4 4RJ. The closing date for proposals is 12 March 2010.

Updated 2 March | back to the top

British Maritime History Seminars 2010–11

This annual series of seminars, convened by the National Maritime Museum and held at the Institute of Historical Research, has been running for ten years. The aim of the seminars is to disseminate new research in British maritime history. For the 2010–11 series abstracts for papers are invited on any aspect of naval history. The National Maritime Museum is currently embarked on a project to develop a new naval gallery, and welcomes new approaches, including interdisciplinary ones, to this topic.

The seminars are on Tuesdays in the Autumn and Spring, 17.15–18.15. Seminar papers are approximately 45 minutes long, followed by questions. Expenses for travel and accommodation are available if required.

Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words to Sally Archer (Curatorial and Research Planner, National Maritime Museum, tel. 020 8312 6772) by Monday 29 March.

Updated 3 March | back to the top

Call for Papers: Inhabiting Institutions in Britain, 1700-1950

Royal Holloway University of London

This one-day research symposium will explore the relationship between residential institutions and living practices in Britain between 1700 and 1950. Residential institutions, whether for temporary or permanent habitation, inevitably hosted everyday living practices. This cross-disciplinary research day will explore the intentions, practices and material cultures of institutional everyday life. Although often designed to remove inmates from the family home, the semi-public world of the institution overlapped and collided with the (so-called) private sphere of the home in a number of ways. The symposium will explore how domestic paradigms were adopted, transformed and sometimes rejected. In addition to considering the intentions of authorities we wish to explore how institutions were inhabited by their residents, including staff and both voluntary and involuntary inhabitants. This includes how residents experienced institutional living, but also the extent to which they were able to exercise agency in influencing spatial and material provision to accommodate their own needs and desires. We hope to consider how inhabitant experiences differed according to class, gender, age and religious grouping, and the extent to which institutions could provide continuity or security for transient groups. We welcome papers on all types of institution including asylums, prisons, workhouses, hospitals and schools, religious or charitable institutions, clubs, military barracks or quarters, and organizations such as the commercial, municipal and charitable lodging house, which might be considered on the boundaries of institutional life.

We are interested in research on any aspect of living in institutions but the following themes might be addressed:

  • the ways in which institutional authorities worked to create a sense of home life, or to distance themselves from it
  • the governance of institutional life, by state and local authorities
  • the architecture, interior design and material culture of institutions
  • how institutions were ‘inhabited’ by resident staff and the roles they constructed
  • how inmates experienced institutional life and the extent to which it was possible to feel 'at home' in an institution
  • the interaction of inmates with visitors (including family members, religious groups and observers)
  • how inmates intervened in given spatial and material environments adapting them to their tastes and needs

The symposium is hosted by the ESRC At Home in the Institution Project. For more details see here. The symposium will be held on 15 September 2010 at 11 Bedford Square, Royal Holloway, in central London. Potential paper givers should submit 300 word abstracts to Dr Marie Sandell by Friday 30 April 2010.

Updated 4 March | back to the top

Three Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Positions at Warwick

Global History and Culture Centre in the University of Warwick

Professor Maxine Berg, Centre Director of the Global History and Culture Centre in the University of Warwick has been recently awarded a ERC fellowship and with this will conduct a research project on trade with Asia in the early modern period. There are three postdoctoral research fellowship positions under the research grant. See here for full details and job descriptions.

Updated 5 March | back to the top

Call for Papers: Ireland since 1966: New Perspectives

UCD Humanities Institute of Ireland, 11 November 2010

This conference will explore new historical perspectives on Ireland since 1966 and the issues involved in their construction. What insights do historians bring? How do they engage in the study of the recent past? And how do their interpretations compare with the social sciences? We welcome proposals that offer fresh perspectives on a number of themes from this period, including – though not limited to – the Irish political system, Europe, Northern Ireland, globalisation, economics, foreign policy, women and gender, social change, the arts, culture, sport, and the media. We particularly welcome papers with a comparative perspective, and also proposals from postgraduate students.

300-word proposals should be e-mailed to newperspectives@ucd.ie before 25 April 2010. General enquiries can be directed to the conference organisers, Professor Brian Girvin (University of Glasgow), Dr Ciara Meehan (UCD) and Dr Kevin O'Sullivan (UCD) at the same address.

Updated 9 March | back to the top

PhD studentship: ERC Project ‘Europe’s Asian Centuries, Trading Eurasia 1600-1830’

History Department, Global History and Culture Centre, University of Warwick

Applications from students are invited for a PhD studentship commencing in Autumn 2010. This studentship is part of the ERC funded project ‘Europe’s Asian Centuries, Trading Eurasia 1600-1830’. The successful candidate will work with Professor Maxine Berg (who will supervise) and other Project and Centre members to explore a topic closely related to the work of the Project. He or she will register for a PhD research degree in Global History. This studentship offers its holder a unique opportunity to work with experts in global history and culture, and to simultaneously develop expertise and a professional profile.

See the website for full details.

Updated 10 March | back to the top

Call for Papers: The Unity of Italy: foreign looks

Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Classe di Lettere e Filosofia, s. 5, 2/2, 2010

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Unity of Italy (2011), the next issue of the Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Classe di Lettere e Filosofia will devote its monographic section to the study of how foreign witnesses looked "from outside" to the Italian society and culture, and to the trends of the new State, during the political unification of the Italian Peninsula (1848-61) and its aftermath in the Liberal Age (1861-1922). The articles must be sent no later than 31 July 2010 to this address (contact with any question). The guidelines and the editing rules can be found on the web page of the Annali. The answer about the acceptance of submitted articles for publication will be given within a month, according to the evaluation of internationally renowned referees. See the website for more information.

Updated 16 March | back to the top

Royal Society Discussion Meeting: Culture evolves

Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 June 2010, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre

The capacity for culture is a product of biological evolution - yet culture itself can also evolve, generating cultural phylogenies. This highly interdisciplinary joint meeting with the British Academy will address new discoveries and controversies illuminating these phenomena, from the roots of culture in the animal kingdom to human, cultural evolutionary trees and the cognitive adaptations shaping our special cultural nature.

This meeting is free to attend, but pre-registration (online) is essential. Click here to register. The online registration form and programme information can be found here.

Updated 16 March | back to the top

PhD Research Scholarship at University of Westminster

The School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages, in partnership with the University History Project, is offering a funded PhD Research Scholarship commencing October 2010. The Studentship is available for a project exploring the evolution of mass market tourism and foreign travel, particularly during the inter-war period in Britain, focusing on the Polytechnic Touring Association as a case study. For more information go to SSHL1: History Project on our website.

Updated 17 March | back to the top

Call for Papers: Recycling luxury and waste in the long 18th century: the afterlife of used things in Britain and France

International conference June 22nd -23rd 2010 – Université Paris, Diderot / LARCA, UFR Charles V - 10, rue Charles V 75004 Paris

The 2010 conference on the afterlife of used things in the long 18th century will expand on the 2009 ‘cycles of novelty’ symposium, which had explored some of the many aspects of recycling in particular in relation to art and literature. This year's conference will focus on recycling in relation to social, economic, cultural and material practices in the long 18th century and will broaden its geographical boundaries to include France.

We invite participants to study the versatile practices of recycling and refashioning that shaped the eighteenth-century world of goods with particular emphasis on the double question of waste and luxury. Thus the refashioning of old objects into new desirable ones, the thriving second-hand market often fuelled by the luxury trades and the problem of “waste management” in societies characterized by increased opulence are among the questions that the conference will seek to explore. The management of resources (both natural and man-made), their scarcity and their uses will also be central to the conference and we welcome papers exploring the topography or geographical circulation of goods and resources involved by practices of recycling. We also hope to somewhat chart the processes of valuation/devaluation and re-evaluation through which both fashionable luxury objects and discarded material went through and invite contributors to submit papers focusing on the cultural uses and values of objects/materials along the various stages of this process. Finally, papers on the circulation of models, knowledge and know-how which the various practices of recycling fostered will help us to understand some of the wider implications of recycling in the age of the enlightenment.

Conference papers can be in English or in French. We are in contact with several publishers to get a selection of papers from this year and last year's conference published. This publication will be in English Please send your proposals (max 300 words) to the organisers by 12 April 2010 at the following addresses:

Updated 17 March | back to the top