Research in Progress 2016, Queen's College Oxford

Saturday 27 February 2016 - 10.00 to 17.00
Shulman Auditorium, The Queen's College, Oxford

Research in Progress is an annual meeting which provides an opportunity for research students in any area of the history of mathematics to present their work to a friendly and supportive audience.

Confirmed student speakers for Research in Progress 2016 include:

• Kevin Baker (University of Oxford)
• Ales Petrocchi (University of Cambridge)
• Edwin Reynolds (University of Southampton; winner of the BSHM Undergraduate Essay Prize 2015)
• Tony Royle (Open University).

There will be a panel discussion on the theme of translating mathematics.

The keynote speaker will be Dr Stephen Johnston of the Museum for the History of Science, University of Oxford.

The meeting will also include the presentation of the 2015 BSHM Neumann Prize to Sydney Padua, for her book The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage.

Camilla Erculani’s Lettere di philosophia naturale

Wednesday 24 February 2016, 6pm
UCL, Italian Seminar Room, Foster Court 351

Eleonora Carinci (University of Cambridge), “Principiando a mezzo del soggetto”: Le Lettere di philosophia naturale di Camilla Erculiani e il genere epistolare

This paper considers Erculiani's Lettere di philosophia naturale (Cracow, 1584) in the context of the sixteenth-century Italian epistolary tradition. The Lettere is the only known example of a work of natural philosophy published by an Italian woman in the sixteenth century. Basing her theory on the thought of Plato, Aristotle and Galen, Erculiani, an apothecary from Padua, attempted to demonstrate the natural cause of the Great Flood by establishing a dialogue with her correspondents. I will explore the relationship between the choice of the epistolary genre and gender issues, and the ways – in particular letter-writing and conversations with physicians and philosophers – in which Erculiani participated as a woman in contemporary philosophical debate.

Eleonora Carinci graduated in Italian literature at La Sapienza – Università di Roma. In 2009 she was awarded a PhD at St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, with a thesis entitled Lives of the Virgin Mary by Women Writers in Post-Tridentine Italy. She specializes in Italian Renaissance and Counter-Reformation literature and culture, with a particular interest in non-canonical literature, religious writings, early modern vernacular natural philosophy, women’s writings and gender issues, and has published a number of articles on these topics. She worked in particular on Moderata Fonte, Vittoria Colonna, Lucrezia Marinella, Maddalena Campiglia, Chiara Matraini, Pietro Aretino and Camilla Erculiani. In 2012-13 she was the Rubinstein Fellow of the Society for Renaissance Studies. She is currently working on a modern critical bilingual edition of Camilla Erculiani’s Lettere di philosophia naturale (1584) to be published in 'The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe' series (Toronto, CRRS).

Annalisa Ricciardi (Senate House Library), “Io vo cercando occasione di ragionar con voi con gli inchiostri ...” Bernardo Tasso’s Letters to Pietro Aretino on Behalf of Giovanni Antonio Clario: A Reformed Printer

This paper will focus on the professional itinerary of the Neapolitan “poligrafo” Giovanni Antonio Clario. At the turn of 1544 he moved from the Kingdom of Naples to Venice, the main printing centre of Italy at that time. His personal itinerary invites reflection on the role of entrustment letters, which he carried with him to Venice and played a primary role in the development of his career. I shall reconstruct Clario’s personal and professional itinerary to throw light on this new category of letterati who used political contacts to further their career in the print sector.

This paper will also examine the spiritual dimension of this new type of figure. Clario’s literary output still resonates with the spiritual anxiety common to sixteenth-century men of letters, who often expressed religious ideas through printed works. In the case of Clario, we see it best in his translation of Valdès’ Dos Dialogos, a political and spiritual work of art used by contemporaries to engender debate about the Reformation, not only among the ruling class but also among the popular and subaltern classes, which helped it make a concrete cultural impact.

Annalisa Ricciardi is currently working at Senate House Library, University of London, as a cataloguer on the "Shakespeare Project". She has previously worked at Sotheby’s Institute of Art Library, the British Library and Tate Britain Archive & Library Department. In 2009 she completed a PhD on the routes and the culture of pilgrimages in the Euro-Mediterranean Middle Ages at Università del Salento, Lecce. She has also published articles on the inquisition and heresy in early modern Venice, such as her entry for ‘Giovanni Antonio Clario’ in Adriano Prosperi, John A. Tedeschi and Vincenzo Lavenia (eds), Dizionario Storico dell’Inquisizione (2010).

Please note that the papers will be in Italian and English.

ALL WELCOME!

To find the Italian Research Seminar Room:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/selcs/italian/images/MapToFC351.jpg

Our full calendar for the current term: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/selcs/italian/research-seminars

You are also welcome to become a friend of the UCL Italian Departmental Research Seminars on Facebook at http://goo.gl/YwKHn and follow us on Twitter @UCLItalianSemin

Andrew Campbell
a.campbell@ucl.ac.uk

King's Shakespeare Festival 2016

Throughout 2016, the London Shakespeare Centre will present talks, debates, performances, film screenings and much more, as part of Shakespeare 400, a consortium of leading cultural, creative and educational institutions in and around London, together creating a season of events during 2016 to celebrate four hundred years of Shakespeare.

The London Shakespeare Centre is one of the many Research Centres supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Institute (AHRI).

3 February - 29 May
By Me William ShakespeareAn exhibition, co-curated by The National Archives and the London Shakespeare Centre at King's, exploring what Shakespeare's will and other unique documents tell us about Shakespeare.
Inigo Rooms, Somerset House East Wing

Thursday 11 - Sunday 14 February 2016
King's Shakespeare Festival Weekend

11 February, 19.00-20.30
On Shakespeare's Sonnets - A Poets' Celebration
An evening to celebrate the publication of the anthology, On Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Poets' Celebration, edited by Hannah Crawforth and Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, with poems by Carol Ann Duffy, Paul Muldoon, Simon Armitage, Jo Shapcott and many others.
Great Hall, King's Building, Strand Campus

11 February, 20.30-21.30
A Celebration of Shakespeare in 20th Century Music Ashley Riches (baritone) and Emma Abbate (piano) perform a selection of Shakespeare songs.
Strand Campus

12 February, 17.00-18.00
Remembering and forgetting in 1916: the Shakespeare Tercentenary and the First World War
A lecture by Professor Gordon McMullan, Director of the London Shakespeare Centre
Strand Campus

12 February, 18.00-19.00
Digital Shakespeare
In this talk Jonathan Hope, Professor of Literary Linguistics at Strathclyde University, explores how simple digital techniques can confirm, and challenge, things we think we know about Shakespeare, through analysis of the texts.
Strand Campus

12 February, 19.30-20.30
The Year of Shakespeare: The Writing Life
A Q&A with renowned Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro, in conversation with Gordon McMullan
Strand Campus

Saturday 13 February, 13.00-15.00
Domestic Shakespeare: Lecture and Performance Workshop
A lecture by Lena Cowen Orlin, on 'The Second-Best Bed' followed by an exploration by professional actors and King's academics of the glimpses we see of Shakespeare's life through the brief records he left behind.
Strand Campus

13 February, 15.00-16.00
Still Shakespeare: Artists' Short Animations
A presentation of five artists' short animated films, in development, inspired by Shakespeare's mst famous plays. Presented by Film London
Strand Campus

13 February, 16.00-17.00
Making Hamlet New
Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor describe the critical reception their original edition provoked. Their talk will be illustrated by actors performing excerpts from the play in its various texts.
Strand Campus

13 February, 17.00-18.30
States of mind: Tom O'Bedlam and Early Modern Attitudes to Mental Health
A multidisciplinary reflection on the character Tom O'Bedlam in song, history and lived experience.
Strand Campus

13 February, 19.00-20.00
Marjorie Garber: Desperately Seeking Shakespeare
Acclaimed Shakespeare scholar Marjorie Garber talks about the quest to find something about Shakespeare that would explain his astonishing accomplishment.
Strand Campus

13 February, 20.00-21.00
'I love a ballad' - Shakespeare Songs in the 19th Century
An evening of song and scholarship with Oskar Cox Jensen.
Council Room, Strand Campus

14 February, 15.00-17.00
Shakespeare's Sister Performance
A staged reading of a new play by Emma Whipday imagining the problems that would face a woman playwright in Shakespeare's London, marking publication of the play by Samuel French.
Strand Campus

14 February, 18.00-19.00
David Scott Kastan: Shakespeare's Will A lecture by renowned Shakespearean and Yale Professor Kastan reflecting on the materials in the 'By Me William Shakespeare' exhibition.
Strand Campus

14 February, 19.30-21.00
Simon Russell Beale in Conversation
Acclaimed Shakespearean actor Simon Russell Beale in conversation with Sonia Massai
Strand Campus
Beyond the Festival

February-May 2016 (open during campus hours)
Shakespeare in 1916
Entrance Hall Cabinets, Strand campus
This exhibition highlights how Shakespeare was remembered in 1916 and how he was studied, including materials from the SKeat and Furnival collections.

26 February, 18.00-20.30
In Nature's Mystery More Science: 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'
Lucas Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus
The Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences presents a screening of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard (inspired by Hamlet) with a post-screening talk, exploring science in Shakespeare.
Currently open to KCL staff and students.

11- Saturday 12 March 2016
Beaumont400 Conference and Performance
Friday 11 - Saturday 12 March
Beaumont400 Conference
Edward J Safra Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus

12 March, 19.30-21.30
A performance of The Woman Hater
Chapel, Strand Campus

16 March 2016, 18.00
Shakespeare and the Law Moot
Inner Temple
Bear witness to a mock Shakespearean court case, as students of the Law School at King's present their arguments. Arbitrators will be Lord Judge, Lady Justice Arden and Dean David Caron.
Cost: £15 (free to KCL students) - book via our estore

16 March 2016, 18.00-20.30
In Nature's Mystery More Science: 'Forbidden Planet'
Lucas Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus
The Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences presents a screening of Forbidden Planet (based on the Tempest) with a post screening talk, exploring science in Shakespeare..
Currently open to KCL staff and students.

16 April 2016
Shakespeare's Musical Brain Conference
Great Hall, Strand Campus

Spring 2016
Brazilian Ensemble Performance: "Canções Cortesãs"
Three songs and a melologue for soprano and string orchestra - on Shakespeare sonnets.
Strand Campus

Thursday 16 June - Saturday 24 September 2016
(Monday - Friday, 9.30-17.00, Saturday 10.00-18.00)
'The very age and body of the time': Shakespeare's world
Weston Room, Maughan Library, Chancery Lane
Exhibition of archive material looking at different aspects of Shakespeare's world, including Shakespeare's London, the New World, Medicine and Religion.

Thursday 21 - Friday 22 July 2016
1616 - The Secrets and Passions of William Shakespeare
Transatlantyk2 present their acclaimed new one-man play, which dramatically recreates Shakespeare’s, life, loves and works.
Greenwood Theatre, Guy's Campus

Sunday 31 July - Saturday 6 August
World Shakespeare Congress: Creating and Re-creating Shakespeare
The 2016 World Shakespeare Congress – four hundred years after the playwright’s death – will celebrate Shakespeare’s memory and the global cultural legacy of his works.
Stratford-upon-Avon and London

Research Fellow, English & Creative Writing

University of Roehampton
Location: London
Salary: £34,172 to £37,008 inclusive of London Weighting Allowance, Pro Rata
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Contract / Temporary

Placed on: 29th January 2016
Closes: 22nd February 2016
Job Ref: RU00348

(Two year fixed term from 1st April 2016)
The University of Roehampton has a beautiful parkland campus, located in the heart of south-west London, and offers excellent facilities for staff and students.

We are looking for a Research Fellow in English & Creative Writing to undertake a significant piece of research during the tenure of an award in collaboration with the lead researcher. “Before Shakespeare: The Beginning of London Commercial Theatre” is a two-year research project funded by the AHRC on the first thirty years of the Elizabethan playhouses (c 1565-95). There will be significant archival work, aiming to produce a census of what we know about this period of theatre history and how we know it. There will also be administrative support relating to a number of practice and performance based experiments with Dolphin’s Back and Shakespeare’s Globe. A successful collaboration will result in named co-authorship of an article, essay collection and monograph.

We are looking for applications from candidates with a complementary academic background. Candidates should be highly motivated and willing and able to engage with this collaboration.

To find out more information about the role and what we’re looking for, visit the Working at Roehampton section of our website where you will find full details, how to apply, as well as further information about the benefits of working for us.

http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/Working-at-Roehampton/

The closing date for completed applications is: 22nd February 2016.

Interviews are expected to be held in late February or early March.

If you are interested in the post and would like to discuss the project further, please contact: Dr Andy Kesson andy.kesson@roehampton.ac.uk

The University is an equal opportunities employer.

Two Postdoc Research Associateships in Early Modern English Literature

University of Geneva – Department of English

Job Description:
Applications are invited for two Postdoc Research Associateships in the English Department at the University of Geneva. The aim of the Associateships is to contribute to a research project, led by Lukas Erne and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, on early modern German versions of plays by Shakespeare. The plays will be retranslated and edited as part of the research project, so at least a passive knowledge of German is required. Successful candidates will work under the guidance of Professor Erne, to whom informal enquires may be made on lukas.erne@unige.ch. The posts are part-time (ca. 70%), initially for 12 months, renewable once (so two years in all) available from 1 September 2016 or earlier.

Responsibilities:
The postholder will be responsible to Professor Lukas Erne for carrying out work in relation to the research project.

Person Specification:
A PhD in early modern English studies completed after September 2013
A good knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays
The ability to work well and co-operatively with the other project members
Knowledge of German and fluent knowledge of English
Fluent knowledge of French is not a requirement for the position

Salary:
Ca. CHF 56,000 pa (= ca. £ 38,000 / EUR 50,000 / $ 55,000)

Closing Date:
15 March

Interviews:
Interviews are scheduled to take place in late March and April.

To Apply:
By email to lukas.erne@unige.ch, with covering letter and curriculum vitae, including the names and (email) addresses of two referees. A writing sample will be required later in the process from shortlisted candidates.

The positions are advertised online at http://www.unige.ch/lettres/angle/en/emplois/.

Fellowship at the Edward Worth Library, Dublin

The Edward Worth Library, Dublin, is offering a one month research fellowship, to be held in 2016, to encourage research relevant to its collections. The Worth Library is a collection of 4,400 books, left to Dr Steevens' Hospital by Edward Worth (1676-1733), an early eighteenth-century Dublin physician. The collection is particularly strong in three areas: early modern medicine, early modern history of science and, given that Worth was a connoisseur book collector interested in fine bindings and rare printing, the History of the Book. Research does not, however, have to be restricted to these three key areas. Further information about the collection and our catalogues may be found on our website: http://www.edwardworthlibrary.ie/Home-Page

The closing date is Monday 4 April 2016.

For further details and application procedures please contact:
Dr Elizabethanne Boran,
Librarian,
The Edward Worth Library,
Dr Steevens' Hospital,
Dublin 8,
Ireland

E-mail: elizabethanne.boran@hse.ie

Dr Elizabethanne Boran,
Librarian,
The Edward Worth Library (1733),
Dr Steevens' Hospital,
Dublin 8,
Ireland.
Tel: 00 353 1 635 2215.
www.edwardworthlibrary.ie

The Edward Worth Library is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edwardworthlibrary

Aldines at the Edward Worth Library: A Descriptive Catalogue (Dublin, 2015): more details available here: http://edwardworthlibrary.ie/publications/

Reassembling the Republic of Letters: 1500-1800: Work Group 4: Documents and Collections.
Cost Action IS1310: http://www.cost.eu/domains_actions/isch/Actions/IS1310

Lectureship in Italian Renaissance Studies, London

The UCL Italian Department is very pleased to share the following announcement:

Applications are invited for a Lectureship in Italian Renaissance Studies at University College London. The job is advertised on UCL's main website, Ref:1535620, and the closing date for applications is 15 March 2016 (23:59 GMT).

UCL seeks to appoint a Lecturer (Grade 8) in Italian Renaissance Studies, within the School of European Languages, Culture and Society. The School would particularly like to strengthen its provision in the research and teaching of Italian Renaissance culture (broadly defined within literary, historical or cultural disciplines and within the period c.1400-c.1700). The ability also to teach in one or more of the following areas may be an asset: Renaissance visual culture; History of philosophy or religion in the Renaissance; Renaissance performance, theatre and music; reception of the Italian Renaissance. The postholder will be required to contribute to the teaching of Italian language courses within the Italian Department, as well as to contribute to the Department's and Faculty's teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels on the basis of research expertise, and to contribute to the running of the Department, the School and the University generally. The successful candidate will be expected to take up the position on 01 September 2016, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Key Requirements:

The postholder will have a PhD or equivalent and a proven track record of research and publications in an area of Italian Renaissance Studies. The postholder will be completely fluent in both English and Italian, and have the ability to supervise academic work by undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Further Details

Further particulars, including a full job description, can be accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/zlyqp9h. If you have any queries regarding the vacancy please contact Dr Catherine Keen on c.keen@ucl.ac.uk.

PhD fellowship in the field of Trust and Risk in Literature (5+3)

The Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University invites applications for a PhD fellowship in Trust and Risk in Literature provided the necessary funding is available. This PhD fellowship is available as of 1 September 2016 for a period of up to three years (5+3). The candidate who is awarded the fellowship must commence his/her PhD degree programme on 1 September 2016.

The PhD fellowship will be financed by Aarhus University Research Foundation.

The PhD fellowship is advertised within the Trust and Risk in Literature Project (http://projects.au.dk/trust-and-risk-in-literature-network/). This project is interested in connecting the ethical, philosophical and linguistic expertise of literary studies to a growing body of research in ‘Trust Studies’, which identifies risk as a way to modify traditional understandings of trust.

We are interested in research projects that explore how English literature in either the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries interrogate trust or risk, either historically or philosophically. How, for instance, was trust - or the absence of trust - represented in poetry, prose or drama during periods of dramatic social change such as the English civil wars or industrial revolution? How does literature reflect the rise of risk as a way of evaluating and engaging with a complex world? The project should engage with current discussions about trust and risk in society in other fields such as social anthropology, governance, economics, systems management and/or business studies. The successful candidate will be part of the Trust and Risk Research Group and international network and will have the opportunity to present their research at upcoming Trust and Risk in Literature Network meetings as well as major conferences such as MLA. There is some scope for comparative studies with literature in other languages but the PhD will be conducted and written in English.

The PhD student must complete the studies in accordance with the valid regulations for the PhD degree programme, currently the Ministerial Order of 27 August 2013 on the PhD degree programme at the universities: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/rulesandforms/thephddegreeprogramme/

Description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/phdstudystructure/

Rules and regulations for the PhD degree programme at the Graduate School at Arts: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/rulesandforms/thephddegreeprogramme/

The PhD fellow will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University, with the aim of completing a PhD degree at the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University.

The PhD student will be affiliated with the PhD programme Art, Literature and Cultural Studies.

The PhD student’s place of work will be the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. In general, the student is expected to be present at the school on an everyday basis.

The PhD degree program is expected to include a lengthy research stay at a foreign institution, cf. Description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme.

The School of Communication and Culture’s research programme:
http://cc.au.dk/en/research/research-programmes/

5+3 programme

When you apply for a 3-year PhD fellowship (5+3), you must enclose documentation stating that you have submitted your Master’s thesis for assessment by the deadline for application, and you must have completed your two year Master’s degree (120 ECTS) no later than 31 August 2016.

The PhD fellow will be employed as a PhD student at the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University. The terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (see section 6.1.4), as well as with the protocol to the agreement covering staff with university degrees in the state sector (see enclosure 5). The agreement and the protocol including amendments are available online: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/rulesandforms/thephddegreeprogramme/

Salary: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/rulesandforms/salary-and-employment/salary-5-3-programme-and-part-b-of-the-4-4-programme/

Application
If you require professional guidance regarding your application for a SU PhD PhD fellowship please contact the PhD programme director at Art, Literature and Cultural Studies: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/contacts/

For further information, please contact Associate Professor Joseph Sterrett, School of Communication and Culture, engjs@dac.au.dk, Phone + 45 60 74 93 32.

Applications for the SU PhD PhD fellowship and enrolment in the PhD degree programme can only be submitted via Aarhus University’s web-based facility.

Guidelines for the application facility: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/application/application-guide/

Applications must be completed in English.

Deadline for applications: 15 March 2016
Reference number: 2016-218/1-157

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Early Modern Literary Geographies

Early Modern Literary Geographies
Oxford University Press

Series Editors: Julie Sanders, Newcastle University and Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr, Pennsylvania State University.

Influenced by the work of cultural and human geographers, literary scholars have started to attend to the ways in which early modern people constructed their senses of the world out of interactions among places, spaces, and embodied practices. Early Modern Literary Geographies will feature innovative research monographs and agenda-setting essay collections that partake of this “spatial turn.” The term “literary geographies” is to be understood capaciously: we invite submissions on any form of early modern writing that engages with the topics of space, place, landscape and environment. Although English literature is at its centre, Early Modern Literary Geographies will feature scholarship that abuts a range of disciplines, including geography, history, performance studies, art history, musicology, archaeology and cognitive science. Subjects of inquiry might include cartography or chorography; historical phenomenology and sensory geographies; body and environment; mobility studies; histories of travel or perambulation; regional and provincial literatures; urban studies; performance environments; sites of memory and cognition; ecocriticism; and oceanic or new blue studies.

Advisory Board:
Stuart Elden, Professor of Political Theory and Geography, University of Warwick
Steve Hindle, W. M. Keck Foundation Director of Research, Huntington Library
Bernhard Klein, Professor of English, University of Kent
Andrew McRae, Professor of English, University of Exeter
Evelyn Tribble, Donald Collie Chair of English, University of Otago
Alexandra Walsham, Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge
Lesley Cormack, Dean of Arts, University of Alberta
Dan Beaver, Associate Professor of History, Penn State University
Steven Mullaney, Associate Professor of English, University of Michigan

Enquiries to: julie.sanders@ncl.ac.uk and gas11@psu.edu

CALL FOR PAPERS: Netherlandish Art and Luxury Goods in Renaissance Spain Trade, Patronage and Consumption

University of Leuven, Belgium, 4-6 February 2016
International conference

Initiated and organized by
Illuminare – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art | KU Leuven

In 2010, Illuminare – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art (KU Leuven) acquired the archive of the eminent Belgian art historian professor Jan Karel Steppe (1918-2009). Steppe is internationally renowned for his groundbreaking research on the influx of Netherlandish art and luxury goods in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Spain. By springtime 2016, his documentation will be archived and the inventory made accessible online. To celebrate this accomplishment, Illuminare is organizing an international conference on Steppe’s long-term and much loved research topic.

This conference will focus on a large variety of media, ranging from painting and tapestry to broadcloth and astrolabes. Special attention will be paid to the driving forces behind this export-driven market, such as artists, patrons, collectors and merchants. By taking into account cultural, religious, political and socio-economic dynamics, this conference aims to shed new light on the multifaceted artistic impact of the Low Countries on the Iberian Peninsula in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

We welcome 20-minute papers by established and early career scholars that revisit or expand Steppe’s topics of research and, equally important, enhance these with recent methodologies and theoretical frameworks. The official language of the conference is English, although papers in French might be taken into consideration. Proposals of no more than 300 words and a brief CV should be submitted to drs. Robrecht Janssen (robrecht.janssen@arts.kuleuven.be) and drs. Daan van Heesch (daan.vanheesch@arts.kuleuven.be) by the 1st of October 2015. Speakers will be invited to submit their papers for a peer-reviewed publication on the topic.

Scientific committee:
Barbara Baert (KU Leuven), Krista de Jonge (KU Leuven), Bart Fransen (KIK-IRPA, Brussels), Robrecht Janssen (KU Leuven / KIK-IRPA, Brussels), Maximiliaan Martens (Ghent University), Werner Thomas (KU Leuven), Paul Vandenbroeck (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp / KU Leuven), Jan Van der Stock (KU Leuven), Daan van Heesch (KU Leuven), Koenraad Van Cleempoel (Hasselt University), Annelies Vogels (KU Leuven), Lieve Watteeuw (KU Leuven)

For more information, please visit the conference website: https://netherlandishartinspain.wordpress.com/ 

CALL FOR PAPERS: SFEVE Annual Conference 2016: Becoming Animal with the Victorians

Université Paris Diderot, Thursday 4 – Friday 5 February 2016

The subject of Victorian relationships with animals is a complex one and necessitates an engagement with many disciplines from history, economics and politics to botany, zoology, art and literature. That relationship is often one of dominance but it is also an embrace of the animal as an ideal and a questioning of the centrality of the human. The concept of “becoming-animal” that Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari develop in a number of their writings seems to question animal-human boundaries and creatively stretch the limits of the human – not only in terms of metamorphosis but in the possibility of new identities and the freedom to become something new and other. The title of the conference also gestures ironically at the idea that animals ‘become’ us – that they ‘suit’ or ‘enhance’ us; the Victorians literally ‘wore’ them but they also wanted to become like them – run wild, forget to be human, forget to be Victorian.

From Lewis Carroll’s improbable Dodo and elusive Cheshire cat in Alice and Wonderland to Rossetti’s famous menagerie and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s beloved spaniel Flush, Victorian culture teems with actual or imaginary animals in their relations to us. In a century that witnessed the emergence of public zoos, animal protection societies and the theory of natural selection but also encouraged big game hunting in the British Empire and condoned cruelty to wild animals, ambivalent attitudes prevailed, leading to major public debates on issues like vivisection or the possibility of an animal soul. This conference will assess the place of animals in Victorian society and the scope of animal/human interactions. With the current rise of critical Animal Studiesand a real “animal turn” in academic research, it is timely for the Société Française d’Etudes Victoriennes et Edouardiennes to consider Victorian culture and history from the point of view of the animal and to give back power, voice and even subjectivity to its furred and feathered friends.

This year’s annual conference will address the following issues:

• Animals in Science and natural history
• Darwinism/ Species
• Animality/bestiality/animacy
• Souls, subjectivities and anthropomorphism
• Bestiaries/beasts/hybridity
• Zoos, menageries, exotic pet shops
• Animals and Empire
• Pets and petkeeping
• Celebrities and their dogs/cats
• The Animal industry (exotic animals, monkeys, parrots, whales)
• Animal Entertainment (fairgrounds, shows) 
• Animal rights (experimentation, protection, vegetarianism, ecosystems)
• Animals and gender/ Animals and class
• Dressing/Fashion and Animals (furs, feathers, costumes, mimetism and camouflage)
• Taxidermy and Animal Collecting
• Rare or Extinct Animals 
• Animal Phobias and Fancies
• Steam Punk and Victorian animal fantasy in film and video games.
• Fairgrounds and animal entertainment (bears, dogs and badger-baiting)
• Consuming Animals (Diets and ethical issues)
• Envisioning/staging Animals (in the Visual Arts or Drama)
• Micro animals and the microscopic creatures.

As with previous SFEVE colloquia, this event will focus on broad notions that will be of interest to scholars from a range of fields, including disciplines such as (but not limited to) anthropology, sociology, history, cultural studies, literature studies, art history, science and technology studies, ethology, psychoanalysis, psychology, behavioural sciences and ecology.

Please submit abstracts (250 words + a brief scholarly biography) to fabienne.moine@wanadoo.fr, laurence.constanty@gmail.com, prum.michel@wanadoo.fr, sara.thornton@univ-paris-diderot.fr no later than 25 October, 2015.