Review: Black Art, Black Power: Responses to Soul of a Nation
Nine speakers, four panels, one day: the highly-anticipated conference organised by the Tate Modern in conjunction with their Soul of a Nation exhibition was not only incredibly broad in the number of topics discussed but simultaneously rich in detail.
Continue ReadingReview: North American Resources at the British Library
The day formed a sort of whistle-stop tour of a public institution that wants to be used. The organisers were more than forthcoming about the importance of human resources in finding material. For all the database searches possible, the subject librarians themselves have decades of experience and indispensable knowledge which they want to disseminate more widely. Like the promotion of analogue, the human face becomes a mascot for remembering how scholarship must seek to maintain a contact with material reality, as it then gains capacity to enrich both academic and public spheres.
Continue ReadingReview: ‘A More Perfect Union’: IAAS PG Symposium
Closing in on a year of turbulence and violence, the symposium’s question of American unity was extremely pertinent. The relationship between past and present, language and truth, healing and communities, and narrative, trauma, and identity emerged throughout the day.
Continue ReadingReview: Presidents and Premiers Workshop, Newcastle University, 26-27 May 2017
Dr Martin Farr, Professor Mike Cullinane and Todd Carter report back on the the success of the Presidents and Premiers workshop, held at Newcastle University on 26-27th May 2017.
Continue ReadingTransatlantic Literary Women, Series 2
Run by women, and in celebration of women, the series focuses on female writers on either side of the Atlantic; specifically, their lives and work in all genres from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Talks from Dr Eilidh A B Hall and Professor Faye Hammill were among the opening highlights of this year’s series.
Continue ReadingHistorians Against Slavery
An over-arching theme of the conference was a trans-disciplinary approach, clearly seen in the construction of the panels. From historians to lawyers to activists, it was clear that organisers of the conference wanted to encourage research collaboration in the effort to end modern slavery. Unlike an inter-disciplinary method, a trans-disciplinary approach goes across different areas of research, not just within, to fully utilise the expertise of each field.
Continue ReadingEdith Wharton Workshop
Among the first events of the new season of the Transatlantic Literary Women Series was an Edith Wharton workshop which was fittingly transatlantic and transnational in scope, welcoming participants from Scotland, England, Germany, China, Ireland and Canada.
Continue ReadingReview: Game of Thrones: An International Conference
‘Winter is coming’, ‘Valar Morghulis’ and ‘You know nothing Jon Snow’ are widely-known expressions attesting to the global visibility of Game of Thrones (2011- ); each expression offering a reminder of the power of television to resonate through casual forms of oral culture.
Continue ReadingReview: Russia in American Literature
Marking the first centenary of the Russian Revolution, both the ‘Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths’ exhibition and the one-day symposium demonstrated painstaking research and showcased the most arresting highlights of that turbulent era.
Continue ReadingReview: Literary Archives in the Digital Age
In many ways the innovative conference served to emphasise how literature itself has been interrogating the possibilities of archiving for a long time. With the advent of the digital age it is more pertinent than ever that such connections are highlighted.
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