Trinity College Dublin, 7-8 July 2017 Keynote Speaker: Dr Wim Van Mierlo (Loughborough University) In recent decades there has been a gradual yet dramatic shift in the means by which scholars engage with literary archives, as the widespread digitization of manuscript texts and the comprehensive shift to digital research tools has changed the nature of scholarly routes into archival material. There has also been a simultaneous shift within archives themselves, as the increasing prevalence of born-digital works necessitates radical changes in methods of curation and preservation. “Literary Archives in the Digital Age” aims to gather scholars together in order to consider these changes; the conference aims both to showcase contemporary archival research and to reflect on the opportunities and challenges presented by 21st-century archival study. We invite theoretical discussions around self-reflective methodological questions as well as considerations of practical issues such as copyright and access to archival material. We will […]

Theorising the Popular Conference 2017 Liverpool Hope University, June 21st-22nd 2017 The Popular Culture Research Group at Liverpool Hope University is delighted to announce its seventh annual international conference, ‘Theorising the Popular’. Building on the success of previous years, the 2017 conference aims to highlight the intellectual originality, depth and breadth of ‘popular’ disciplines, as well as their academic relationship with and within ‘traditional’ subjects. One of its chief goals will be to generate debate that challenges academic hierarchies and cuts across disciplinary barriers. The conference invites submissions from a broad range of disciplines, and is particularly interested in new ways of researching ‘popular’ forms of communication and culture. In addition to papers from established and early career academics, we encourage proposals from postgraduate taught and research students. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: Film and Television Media and Communication Politics and Populism Celebrity Literature (Fiction and Non-Fiction) Music […]

Winning the Western Approaches: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and the US Navy in Ireland, 1917-18 University College Cork 5 – 7 July 2017 Industrial warfare during the First World War extended underwater, as submarines destroyed up to 5,000 vessels and altered the course of the conflict. Germany’s resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 brought the United States into the war and created severe Allied shipping losses and dangerous food shortages. A transatlantic convoy system introduced that year relied heavily on US Navy escort vessels based in Ireland and France. These American escorts helped bring Allied shipping losses under control and protect troop ships packed with American soldiers bound for France. The American naval presence in Europe contributed to the final defeat of the Central Powers and announced the arrival of a new military power. This multi-disciplinary conference will explore the consequences of underwater warfare during the First World War, […]