January 2011

The 2011 British Scholar Conference is just over two months away and we wanted to give you a glimpse of Professor Peter Clarke’s Opening Lecture. The talk, entitled ‘The English Speaking Peoples before Churchill’, is described by Professor Clarke:

‘The English-speaking peoples’ is a phrase indelibly associated with Winston Churchill, both as politician and as author. It is often assumed that this concept originated in socially privileged, politically conservative and generally establishment-minded circles and that it achieved its greatest currency in the Churchill-Roosevelt era spanning World War Two. But how much interest had Churchill actually shown in the English-speaking peoples in his early career? This lecture looks for the historical origins of the concept, initially by exploring the databases of some leading British and American newspapers. The significance of the American Civil War, in generating a common language of democratic populism, becomes clear. Likewise the use of Anglo-Saxonist terminology, not least by whiggish historians, is examined, as are concepts like Greater Britain and the term Commonweath as applied to the British Empire. Historians will not be surprised to learn that all these usages changed over time, appealing to different constituencies, and responding to political as well as intellectual influences. Thus the concept of the English-speaking peoples had its own history, long before it became a subject for the pen, and for the tongue, of Winston Churchill.

Professor Clarke’s lecture will be an engaging opening at what is sure to be an excellent conference.

The Scottish Government recently publicized the funding scheme as a way to understand why the Scots migrated from their homeland over the centuries. Funding of £200,000 over two years will support one PhD studentship and three post-doctoral fellowships at the Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies to help inform the Government’s policy on engaging Scotland’s diaspora. If you are interested in reading more about these awards or if you would like to apply for the studentship or one of the post-doctoral fellowships please visit the Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies’ website at http://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/centres/scdt/.

NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON BRITISH STUDIES
ANNUAL MEETING
DENVER,COLORADO
NOVEMBER 18-20, 2011

The NACBS and its Western affiliate, the Western Conference on British Studies, seek participation by scholars in all areas of British Studies for the 2011 meeting. We will convene in Denver, Colorado, from November 18-20. We solicit proposals for panels on Britain, the British Empire and the British world. Our interests range from the medieval to the modern. We welcome participation by scholars across the humanities and social sciences.

We invite panel proposals addressing selected themes, methodology, and pedagogy, as well as roundtable discussions of topical and thematic interest, including conversations among authors of recent books and reflections on landmark scholarship. North American scholars, international scholars and Ph.D. students are all encouraged to submit proposals for consideration. Strong preference will be given to complete panel or roundtable proposals that consider a common theme. Panels typically include three papers and a comment; roundtables customarily have four presentations. Individual paper proposals will also be considered in rare cases. We urge those with single paper submissions to search for additional panelists on lists such as H-Albion or at venues such as the NACBS Facebook page. Applicants may also write to the Program Chair for suggestions (nacbsprogramgmailcom  (nacbsprogramgmailcom)  ).

All scholars working in the field of British Studies are encouraged to apply for the 2011 conference, though we particularly welcome papers from those who did not appear on the 2010 program. Panels that include both emerging and established scholars are especially encouraged, as are submissions with broad chronological focus and interdisciplinary breadth. We welcome the participation of junior scholars and Ph.D. candidates beyond the qualifying stage. To enable intellectual interchange, we ask applicants to compose panels that feature participation from a range of institutions. No participant will be permitted to take part in more than one session and no more than one proposal will be considered from each applicant.

Submissions will be taken at www.nacbs.org/conference.html through March 15, 2011. If you have questions about submission or suggestions for program development, please contact:

Lara Kriegel
NACBS Program Chair
Associate Professor of History and English
Indiana University, Bloomington
nacbsprogramgmailcom  (nacbsprogramgmailcom)  

Our Lecture Series, which began with Dr. Catriona MacDonald’s presentation at the University of Ediinburgh on 9 November, will continue in 2011 with a lecture tentatively scheduled for early July in London. More details will be forthcoming in the February and March Newsletters.