CFP: in:flux 1845-1945: A Century in Motion (5/17/2013; 6/27/2013)

in:flux

1845-1945: A Century in Motion

University of Birmingham, 27th June 2013

Keynote speaker – Dr Matthew Rubery, Queen Mary University of London

Interdisciplinary postgraduate conference – call for papers

How did the rapid period of industrialisation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries help to shape societies and lifestyles in the West? What types of social changes, movements and developments characterise this time period? This interdisciplinary postgraduate conference, in affiliation with the Centre for the Study of Cultural Modernity and hosted by the College of Arts and Law, seeks to explore the various ways in which this century was one of ‘motion’, in every sense of the word. The conference title seeks to encapsulate both the uncertainty and upheaval of this period as well as the physical and cultural movements that occurred at this time. We invite papers addressing these themes from postgraduate researchers and early-career academics working on this period from a variety of backgrounds.

Topics could include, but are not limited to:

Cultural or social movements

• political movements
• the Women’s Movement
• arts movements (musical, artistic, literary)
• religious and philosophical
• popular cultural trends (food, fashion, advertising)

Physical movements

• mass movement of people (mobilisation of soldiers, migration from towns to cities)
• transatlantic and inter-continental travel (including emigration and immigration)
• leisure and tourism
• transport
• changing landscapes

Development and progress

• media (cinema, audio technology and radio, print media)
• scientific and medical advances
• technology
• economic growth and/or recession
• development of nationhood

These headings are suggestions only; we welcome proposals exploring crossovers between these topics, or addressing them from interdisciplinary perspectives. Abstracts of 250-300 words for 20 minute papers along with a short biographical note of no more than 50 words should be sent to pgculturalmodernity@contacts.bham.ac.uk by the 17th May 2013. We welcome any questions that you may have; please do not hesitate to contact us at the above address.

For more information about the Centre for the Study of Cultural Modernity please visit their website: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/culturalmodernity/index.aspx

Twitter: @pgculturalmod          

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Wordpress: http://pgculturalmodernity.wordpress.com 

Reminder: “Loco/Motion,” 34th annual NCSA conference (9/30/2012; 3/7-9/2013)

Loco/Motion

34th Annual Conference of the Nineteenth Century Studies Association

Fresno, California, March 7-9, 2013

The long nineteenth century set the world on the move. Travel became increasingly important for business and pleasure, for war and peace. At the same time, new forms of moving people arose: the balloon, ships, undergrounds, funiculars, the railroads. Each carried riders to great distances, different locales, and novel pursuits. But motion wasn’t purely spatial; new movements arose as well, sweeping the inhabitants of the period into fresh vistas of thought and endeavor. We seek papers and panels that capture the sense of movement at work and at play during the long nineteenth century (1789-1914). Papers may address the intersections of movement/s, focus on technologies of motion in isolation, or reveal the desires—for gain, glory, greed—that set the world on its feet.

Some suggested topics:

• Gold Rushes (Mineral Manias and Speculative Destinations)
• Literature of the Sea
• Maps and Cartography
• The Science of Exploration (Darwin’s Voyages)
• Narratives of Time Travel, Travel into Space (Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle)
• The West as Destination and Concept
• Celebrity Performance Tours
• Movement of Goods and Ideas
• Migration and Relocation
• Expeditions
• Concepts of Motion and Stasis
• New Forms of Creative Motion and Locomotion (Moving Pictures, Photography, Dance, Music)

We also welcome other interpretations of the conference theme.

The campus of California State University, Fresno, will host us in 2013. Its setting makes it the perfect place to explore the conference theme, since Fresno is ringed by the original Gold Rush towns and three superb national parks (Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon), two of which are nineteenth-century creations. As a result, Fresno still bears evidence of the vast changes caused by the movements of the nineteenth century. The library of CSU Fresno houses the Donald G. Larson Collection on International Expositions and Fairs; material from this archive will be featured in a special exhibition for the conference.  Please note: submission of a proposal indicates intent to present.

Please e-mail abstracts (250 words) for 20-minute papers that provide the author’s name and paper title in the heading, as well as a one-page cv, to Prof. Toni Wein at NCSA-2013@sbcglobal.net by September 30, 2012. Please note that submission of a proposal indicates intent to present. Presenters will be notified in November 2012. Graduate students whose proposals are accepted may, at that point, submit complete papers in competition for a travel grant to help cover transportation and lodging expenses.