News and Events
For news about the Society's activities and initiatives and the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH).
Blogs
HISTORY WORKSHOP HAS BEGUN A NEW BLOG DISCUSSING "HISTORY, THE NATION AND THE SCHOOLS
Go to: http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/history-the-nation-and-the-schools/
The first contributions are from Professor Barbara Taylor of the University of East London, history teacher Ed Webb, and Professor Peter Mandler of the University of Cambridge.
THE VOLUNTARY ACTION HISTORY SOCIETY
This is a new blog on the history of charity, campaigning and civil society. The weekly blog features short pieces of up to c.1,000 words covering history and policy, archival matters, historical insights, conference reports and book reviews. You will see from the list of blog contributors (http://www.vahs.org.uk/about/blog-contributors/) that a number of established historians as well as research students and archivists are writing for this society. The blog also offers the opportunity to comment on pieces. The blog can be found at http://www.vahs.org.uk/blog and anyone interested in contributing to the blog should contact the Editor, Dr George Gosling at: gcgosling@brookes.ac.uk.
Websites
CHALLENGES TO BIOGRAPHY: ARHC RESEARCH NETWORK WEBSITE
Challenges to Biography is funded by the AHRC and hosted by the University of Southampton. The site is organized by Adrian Smith and Ray Monk of the University of Southampton, who invite all interested parties to register on the site and become involved in the network's activities.
http://www.ahrcbiographynetwork.com
Calls for Papers
EMBLEMS OF NATIONHOOD: BRITISHNESS 1707-1901
10-12 August 2012, University of St Andrews
National identity is a central point of enquiry that is repeatedly called upon in contemporary social and political rhetoric. Our conference 'Emblems of Nationhood, 1707-1901', will address the roots of this theme by discussing depictions of Britain and Britishness in literature, philosophy and art between the Act of Union in 1707 and the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Over the course of this multidisciplinary conference, we aim to explore how expressions of nationalism have moulded both critical perspectives on national identity and their creative products.
Discussing emblems of nationhood in 2012 is a fitting way to mark the twentieth anniversary of Linda Colley's seminal account of Britishness, Britons: Forging the Nation, and coincides with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Several broad questions could potentially be explores in the course of the conference: What did britishness mean in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and how was it represented and perceived? To what extent is nationalism tied with military events and empire building? How "British" was britain before the launch of the Empire? How did concepts of nationalism enter the public consciousness, both within the British Isles and abroad? What is the impact of artistic and cultural depictions of Britain and Britishness in domestic and international contexts? How can these historical ideas of britishness enhance our contemporary understanding of the concepts of nationalism and national identity?
Alongside panel sessions and a roundtable discussion on national identity in the period, public expressions of nationhood will also be represented: we are planning an exhibition of pictorial representations of Britishness in the form of cartoons, banknotes, war-landscapes, etc as well as an evening of patriotic entertainment from the period. Suggested topics for papers might include, but are not limited to: Britannia and definitions of Britishness; Liberty and Empire; Four nations, archipelago and Britishness; The Auld Alliance; British history and histories of Britain; Foreign and British taste; Mother-nation and Commonwealth; The Gothic revival, Gothic novels and the ancient Gothic constitution; Foreign perceptions of Britain and Britishness; national anthems; Expressions of Britishness in applied arts, satirical prints and cartoons; The Great Exhibition of 1851; The iconography of British institutions; Positive and negative forms of national identity.
Confirmed keynote speakers are Dr Emma Major and Professor Colin Kidd.
We seek 250-word proposals for 20-minute papers from postgraduates and established scholars from across the Arts and Humanities. The deadline for submission is 1st March 2012. Please email submissions to EmblemsOfNationhood@gmail.com. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the conference organisers Dr Kristin Lindfield-Ott (mk04@st-andrews.ac.uk) and Jennifer Whitty (jw836@st-andrews.ac.uk).
http://www-ah.st-andrews.ac.uk/Emblems of Nationhood/Home.html
COMMUNITY, COHESION AND SOCIAL STABILITY: HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES
13 - 14 September 2012, Bangor University
We are looking for papers for a conference to be held at Bangor University to address a number of interrelated topics central to the building of communities. Possible topics include: the creation, maintenance and development of sustainable communities; the achievement of cohesion and stability / the 'top down' approach?; the impact of physical redevelopment; the role of the state; the role of the Third Sector; the impact of social change; the undermining of stability and cohesion.
For further information, please contact Peter Shapely at: p.shapely@bangor.ac.uk or Dinah Evans at: his081@bangor.ac.uk
GOD AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT
4 - 6 October 2012, Ohio University
The George Washington Forum on American Ideas, Politics and Institutions, which has its home at Ohio University, invites paper proposals for a conference and subsequent edited volume on religion and the Enlightenment. The conference will be held at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and is co-organized by William J. Bulman and Robert G. Ingram. John Milbank (Nottingham) will deliver the keynote lecture, while Justin Champion (London), Jonathan Clark (Kansas), Brad Gregory (Notre Dame), Maria-Cristina Pitassi (Geneva), Joan Pau Rubies (LSE), Jonathan Sheehan (UC-Berkeley) and Dale Van Kley (Ohio State) will deliver plenary lectures.
This conference aims to promote academic discussion and to explore new research trends on the origins, character and consequences of the Enlightenment, especially regarding religion. The conference organizers welcome the work of advanced doctoral students and both young and established scholars in the fields of history, religion, philosophy and literature.
Proposals - which should include a 500-word abstract, a brief curriculum vitae, and complete current contact information - should be sent by 9 March 2012, to the conference organizers: William J. Bulman, Department of History, Lehigh University (bulman@lehigh.edu) and Robert G. Ingram, Department of History, Ohio University (washingtonforum@ohio.edu). Notifications of a paper's acceptance will be sent out in early April.
The conference is supported primarily by a grant from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation.
THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE ON BRITISH STUDIES 2012 MEETING
2-3 November 2012, Mobile, Alabama
The Southern Conference on British Studies solicits proposals for its 2012 meeting to be held 2-3 November 2012 in Mobile, Alabama. The SCBS will meet in conjunction with the Southern Historical Association at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel. 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 twenty to twenty-five minutes. Also, please submit a curriculum vitae for each participant. Proposals should be postmarked by 1 March 2012 and mailed to: Dr William Anthony Hay, Department of History, PO Box H, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762. Inquiries are welcome at wilhay6248@aol.com, but please to not send proposals by email for fax.
Conferences
THE ROYAL BODY CONFERENCE
Monday 2 - Wednesday 4 April 2012, Royal Holloway, University of London
The idea of the king's two bodies, the body natural and the body politic, founded on the distinction between the personal and mortal king and the perpetual and corporate crown, has long been of interest to scholars of medieval and early modern kingship. In later centuries the natural body of the monarch remained a contested site, with the life, health, sexuality, fertility and death of the king or queen continuing to be an important part of politics. Now royal sex and scandal is the very stuff that sells newspapers, and royal christenings, weddings and funerals continue to capture the popular imagination. Indeed the 'royal touch' of Aids victims or sick children remains a potent image. So what is the significance of the natural body of the monarch to their subjects now and the importance of it for the concept, and survival, of monarchy?
This conference will explore the bodies of monarchs across Europe ranging form the medieval period to the present. By considering how the monarch's body has been washed, dressed, used, anointed, hidden, attacked and put on display, it will investigate how ideas of king/queenship have developed over time.
For further information please contact Dr Anna Whitelock, Department of History, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, tel. 01784-443312, anna.whitelock@rhul.ac.uk
KENT, THE SOUTH-EAST AND WAR FROM THE TENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
20-22 April 2012, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, Kent
Speakers to include: Dr Charles Insley (Canterbury Christ Church) 'Warfare, the State, and the Archbishops of Canterbury in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries'; Professor Ann Williams (UEA) 'The Strategic Importance of the South-East in the Eleventh Century'; Dr Chris Lewis (KCL) 'The Doomed Elite of 1066'; Dr Paul Dalton (Canterbury Christ Church) 'William the Conqueror's Campaign in South-East England, 1066'; Dr Louise Wilkinson (Canterbury Christ Church) 'Eleanor de Montfort at Dover in 1265'; Dr Andrew Spencer (Cambridge) 'Sussex in the Barons' War'; Richard Eales (Canterbury Christ Church) 'Stephen of Pencester and the Defence of Kent under Edward I'; Dr Craig Lambert (Hull) 'Kentish Ports in the Hundred Years War'; Gemma Minihan (Southampton) 'War and Social Networks in Fourteenth-Century Kent'; Dr Gill Draper (Kent) 'Private Finance Initiative? The Funding of War in the Late Fourteenth Century'; Professor Anne Curry (Southampton) 'South-Eastern England and Campaigns to France 1415-1450'; Dr David Grummitt (Kent) 'War and Rebellion in Lancastrian Kent'; Dr Sheila Sweetinburgh (Huddersfield) 'A Revolt too Far: Paying the Price in Late Medieval Canterbury'.
Ticket prices: Friday 20 April £8; Saturday 21 April £12; Sunday 22 April £6; Friday to Sunday inclusive £20. For further details and booking, please contact by 3 April 2012 either Dr Paul Dalton, or Dr Charles Insley or Dr Louise Wilkinson, Department of History and American Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Road, Canterbury CT1 1QE; email: paul.dalton@canterbury.ac.uk, or charles.insley@canterbury.ac.uk or louise.wilkinson@canterbury.ac.uk.
81ST ANGLO-AMERICAN CONFERENCE OF HISTORIANS: ANCIENTS AND MODERNS
Thursday 5th and Friday 6th July 2012, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
With the Olympics upon us in the UK it seems an appropriate moment to think more broadly about the ways in which the classical world resonates in our own times, and how successive epochs of modernity since the Renaissance have situated themselves in relation to the various ancient civilisations. from political theory to aesthetics, across the starts of war and of peace, to concepts of education, family, gender, race and slavery, it is hard to think of a facet of the last millennium which has not been informed by the ancient past and through a range of media, including museums, painting, poetry, film and the built environment. The Institute of Historical Research's 81st Anglo-American conference seeks to represent the full extent of work on classical receptions, welcoming not only those scholars who work on Roman, Greek and Judaeo-Christian legacies and influences, but also historians of the ancient kingdoms and empires of Asia and pre-Colombian America. Plenary lecturers include: Paul Cartledge (Cambridge), Constanze Güthenke (Princeton), Mark Lewis (Stanford), Sanjay Subrahmanyam (UCLA) and David Womersley (Oxford).
Programme and registration details will be available at this link: www.history.ac.uk/aach12 on 1st February 2012. For any queries, please contact IHR.EVENTS@sas.ac.uk.
Lectures
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NAVY
Special Lecture 13 June 2012
Professor Andrew Lambert (King's College London) 'The First Sea Lord's Annual Lecture on Naval History and Strategy' .
Attendance at this event is by ticket only. To request tickets contact: Emma Nash emma.nash@nmrn.org.uk, or write to: The National Museum of the Royal Navy, HM Naval Base (PP66), Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3NH
Seminars
THE CARLYLE LECTURES
Wednesdays at 5pm, Hilary Term, Examination Schools, University of Oxford
Malcolm Schofield (Faculty of Classics, Cambridge): A Republican Political Philosophy: Cicero and Rome
15 February 2012: Republican virtues; 22 February 2012: Philosophy and politics: Cicero's noble lie.
GERMAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE LONDON
SEMINARS - SPRING 2012
All GHIL seminars are held at 5.00pm in the Seminar Room of the GHIL, 17 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2NJ. Tea is served from 4.30pm in the Common Room, and wine is available after the seminars.
23 February - Rüdiger Graf (Bochum/Munich) West Germany in a World of Oil: Energy and Foreign Policy in the Oil Crisis 1973-4
6 March - Eve Rosenhaft (Liverpool) Black People under Nazi Rule: Perspectives on the 'Racial State'
20 March - Andreas Eckert (Berlin) Connecting Histories of Work and Non-Work: African Labour History in a Global Perspective
GOLDSMITHS HISTORY SEMINAR PROGRAMME (AND RELATED EVENTS) 2011-12
Wednesdays, 5.30-7.00pm (unless otherwise stated), Room 143, Richard Hoggart Building, Goldsmiths
All events are free and open to the public. No registration required. For additional information, please contact Dr Dejan Djokic (d.djokic@gold.ac.uk)
Full seminar programme: http://www.gold.ac.uk/history/seminars/
SPRING TERM
7 March 2012: Miles Taylor (IHR) 'Queen Victoria and India.'
14 March 2012: Mark Cornwall (Southampton) & Hannes Grandits (Humboldt University, Berlin) 'Shifting Allegiances Among the Nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.'
Joinlty sponsored by the IHR 'Rethinking Modern Europe' seminar and Goldsmiths Centre for the Study of the Balkans.
THE JAMES FORD LECTURES IN BRITISH HISTORY
Fridays 5pm, Hilary Term, Examination Schools, University of Oxford
Professor Roy Foster (Hertford College, Oxford): Making a Revolution in Ireland c. 1890-1916
24 February 2012: Fighting: Volunteering, organizing and dying.
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NAVY. 2011 - 2012 SEMINARS
All seminars will take place from 5.30 - 6.30pm in the Princess Royal Gallery, NMRN, Portsmouth and are free of charge.
These seminars are a new venture for the Museum. New and established scholars will present their latest academic research, analysis and opinions on their areas of expertise.
14 March 2012: Dr Helen Doe (University of Exeter) 'Those they left behind: Naval families during the Napoleonic Wars'.
9 May 2012: Mr Matthew Sheldon (NMRN) 'Packing a Punch: Naval cartoons in print, propaganda and private scribbling'.
Researchers wishing to contribute papers on any aspect of naval history to the 2012-13 seminar series should email a title and a 300 word abstract of their proposed paper, plus a one page CV to Dr Duncan Redford at: duncan.redford@nmrn.org.uk
THE SLADE LECTURES 2012
Wednesdays at 5pm, University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford
Anthony Cutler (Evan Pugh Professor of Art History, Pennsylvania State University): The Empire of Things: Gifts and Gift Exchange in Byzantium, Early Islam and Beyond
22 February 2012: Gifts, Treasures, Rarities; 29 February 2012: The Afterlives of Gifts: Entropy and Rebranding; 7 March 2012: Gifts in Theory, Gifts in Practice.
UCL INTERDISCIPLINARY MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE SEMINAR
part of the UCL Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Mondays 6.15pm, Room G09, UCL History Department, 24-5 Gordon Square, London WC1E 6BT. All Welcome. Drinks afterwards.
SPRING TERM
19 March 2012: Dr Spike Bucklow (Fitzwilliam Museum) 'From lapis lazuli to the Virgin's robe'.
SUMMER TERM
23 April 2012: Professor Trevor Dean (Roehampton) 'Fact and fiction in Italian medieval vendetta'.
14 May 2012: Professor David Dumville (Aberdeen) 'The Northern Recension of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'.
For more information contact: katherine.cross.09@ucl.ac.uk or matthew.ross.09@ucl.ac.uk.
The programme is also available at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/silva/cmrs/seminar