CfP: Society for Renaissance Studies (UK) Ninth Biennial Conference

Event Date: 07 Jul 2020 to 09 Jul 2020 University of East Anglia, Norwich.

Find more information on the Society for Renaissance Studies (UK) website.

The confirmed keynote speakers are

Dr John-Paul A. Ghobrial (Oxford)

Dr Jan L. de Jong (Groningen)

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb (Roehampton)

Professor Jessica Wolfe (UNC Chapel Hill)

Themes and Proposals

The conference committee welcomes proposals for panels and individual papers from any field of Renaissance and early-modern studies. Panels and papers are invited to engage with any of the following themes:

Archives and the History of the Book

Cities, States, Regions

Music, Play, Festivity

Scholars, Patrons, Collectors, and Natural Philosophers

Religion, Devotion, Confession

Border crossings, Communications, the New World

We welcome submissions that are interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary in scope, and papers/ panels should feel free to combine elements of the above themes together. The conference will also feature an open strand for papers which engage with themes other than those listed above. We also encourage panel submissions organised by scholarly societies or submissions which emerge from research projects broadly relating to Renaissance and early-modern studies.

Proposals for panels (90 minutes, including discussion) and individual papers (20 minutes) should be be sent to srs.2020@uea.ac.uk by 1 September 2019.

For each paper proposal: please provide the paper title and an abstract of 250 words.

For each panel proposal: please provide the panel title, details of the panel chair and any respondent, and abstracts of 250 words and full contact details for each presenter. In your submission, please indicate which conference theme or themes are most relevant to your panel/paper (or whether your submission is part of the open strand). The conference committee aims to make decisions about panels and speakers during October. Any questions about the format of conference panels should be directed to srs.2020@uea.ac.uk.

The Society is eager to encourage postgraduates working in any field of Renaissance or early-modern studies to offer papers or organize panels; a number of bursaries to cover travel, registration, and accommodation will be available. (Details of how to apply for a bursary will be made available in October.)

The SRS Annual Lecture—given by Dr John-Paul A. Ghobrial—and AGM will also take place during the conference.

SRS Public Lecture

2020 sees the inauguration of the SRS Public Lecture, which will be presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and takes place on the evening of 6 July 2020 in St Andrew’s Hall in Norwich city centre. While the conference registration and panels take place between 7-9 July, the committee is aware that a large number of conference participants will arrive in Norwich beforehand, and they are warmly invited to attend the public lecture. The event is free to attend for SRS members and non-members alike, but ticketed to control numbers. SRS members will have priority access to tickets, which can be reserved when the registration website goes live. This event, delivered by one of our foremost public-facing scholars, has been instituted to reflect and confirm the Society’s commitment to the public dissemination of our research.

Conference Mentoring

The committee will also be facilitating a conference mentor/ buddy system, pairing up early career researchers with more experienced or senior colleagues. Each pair will make contact over the course of the conference to discuss career strategies and advice. The SRS is committed to postgraduate and early career development, and the committee hopes this system will facilitate further integration of our colleagues within the Society. If you are interested in taking part in the buddy system, either as an early career researcher or mentor, please indicate this when you submit your proposal.

Further information about how to apply for a bursary, of the conference buddy system, and how to book tickets for the Public Lecture, will be disseminated in the October Bulletin. We look forward with great anticipation to receiving your proposals and welcoming you to early-modern England’s second city.

Find more information on the Society for Renaissance Studies (UK) website.