Call For Papers

Following successful events from History Lab North East at Northumbria, Teesside and Newcastle University, History Lab North East is pleased to announce the call for papers for our upcoming workshop at Durham University on 8 May 2014. We are seeking papers from postgraduate students based in History, Classics, and Archaeology on the theme of ‘Narratives’. Papers should provide a brief outline of research before discussing their particular approach to the technical and theoretical aspects of constructing and dealing with existing historical narratives. Themes for these papers could include, but are not limited to:

• Narratives developed and deployed by historical actors
• Historiography and the narratives of historians
• ‘Popular’, ‘public’ and ‘dominant’ historical narratives
• Narrative patterns, tropes and recurring narratives
• Narrative types and their particular constructs of history, e.g. biographical, hagiographical, origin myths, parables and moralities
• Influence of religious and mythological narratives
• Narrating the past in historical fiction and film
• How does the narrative help or hinder the writing of your thesis?
• Is it possible to have history without a narrative?
• Who has the power to construct the past?

Each paper should be 15-20 minutes long, with an expected 10 minutes for post-paper discussion. Please send your abstracts of 200-300 words to historylab.northeast@gmail.com by 13 April 2014.

This workshop will also incorporate a training event on the same theme which will be announced with the finalised programme, and a social event after the workshop.History Lab North East aims to bring together postgraduates in the North East, offering them a chance to present their research in a friendly environment, gain insightful feedback on this research, and to network and socialise with their peers.

For more information on History Lab North East please check us out on ...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistoryLabNE
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryLabNorthEast

Discovery, Invention and Reinvention

The deadline for the Newcastle University Postgraduate Conference is the 30th March. See below for details:

Call for Papers:
11th Annual PGF Conference 2014
School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Newcastle University
16 May 2014

Discovery, Invention and Reinvention

This interdisciplinary one-day conference seeks to reflect on the continuous (re)discovery and (re)invention processes which historical disciplines and our understanding of the past go through over time.
     Through the course of history individuals, countries and cultures have discovered and rediscovered their pasts; inventing and reinventing personalities, identities, social structures, conventions and ideologies. An iconic figure or artefact may be discovered, forgotten and rediscovered by the same or different peoples and cultures, bearing different meanings and connotations for each given context. An identity or concept may be invented and reinvented at different times. This conference intends to explore these processes and man’s connection and continuous engagement with the past.
     Our keynote speaker this year is Professor Brian McGing, of Trinity College Dublin. Professor McGing holds the Regius Chair of Greek at Dublin and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He will be giving a paper entitled 'The attractions of roads less travelled. Reinventing Polybius, Josephus and Appian'.

We are seeking proposals for individual twenty-minute papers from historians, archaeologists, classicists and ancient historians. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Intellectual history and reception
• Material culture
• Family and gender
• Religion and ritual
• Comparative history
• Politics and national identity
• Class and race
• Memory and commemoration
• Historiography
• Interdisciplinary history

We also invite poster submissions from postgraduate students. The posters do not necessarily need to be on the conference theme, but rather are a way to begin to present your work in the earlier stages of your research.

Please send abstracts of no more than 250-300 words for papers and 150-200 words for posters along with title and CV to Emma Nicholson (e.nicholson@ncl.ac.uk) by 30 March 2014.

Workshop on ‘Sources and Evidence’

Seminar Room 2.20, Research Beehive, Old Library Building, Newcastle University, Friday 29th November

12.30 Introduction and welcome

12.45-13.15 Emma Nicholson (Newcastle University): ‘Bias in Polybius’ Histories and the Nature of Ancient Greek Historiography’.

13.15-13.45 Ali Chapman (Newcastle University): ‘Assessing the Bellum Hispaniense: Complications, difficulties, and language’.

13.45-14.00 Coffee break

14.00-14.30 Katherine Krick (Durham University): ‘From the Middle Ages to the Digital Age: Finding and Using Sources’.

14.30-15.00 Michael Robinson (Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool):  ‘Forgotten Men; Forgotten Sources: A discussion of utilising asylum reports researching the post-war psychiatric care of Irish veterans of the Great War’.

15.00-15.15 Coffee break

15.15-15.45 Fiona Howarth (Newcastle University): ‘The Value of Correspondence as a Historical Source: A Case Study on “The California Oath Controversy”’.

15.45-16.45 Training Session Lucy Keating (Liason Librarian, Newcastle University):  ‘Using social media for history research: trivia or treasure trove?’

16:45-17.30 Discussion, ideas for the next event, and close.

For more information on History Lab North East please see our blog: http://historylabne.blogspot.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistoryLabNE or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryLabNorthEast

Call for Papers

Following successful events in the last academic year at Northumbria and Teesside University, History Lab North East is pleased to announce the call for papers for our upcoming workshop to be held at Newcastle University on November 29th 2013. We are seeking papers from postgraduate students based in History, Classics, and Archaeology on the theme of ‘Sources and Evidence’. Papers should provide a brief outline of research before discussing their particular approach to sources. Themes for these papers could include, but are not limited to:

• Difficulties with source material and how these complications can be overcome (e.g. copyright, language, accessibility, and readability issues).
• Dealing with multi-lingual source material.
• The use of material culture.
• Accessing sources.
• Using controversial sources and what implications this may have for your research. (e.g. sources including sensitive material, human remains, sources from the recent past).
• Combining evidence from different mediums and the positives and negatives of such an approach (e.g. oral history, correspondence, film).
• Interdisciplinary sources (e.g. the use of anthropology, combining archaeological and historical evidence).
• Using sources in a digital age.
• The use of sources in public engagement.

Each paper should be 15-20 minutes long, with an expected ten minutes for post-paper discussion. Please send your abstracts of 200-300 words to historylab.northeast@gmail.com by 21 October 2013.

This workshop will also incorporate a training event on the same theme which will be announced with the finalised programme, and a social event after the workshop.

History Lab North East aims to bring together postgraduates in the North East, offering them a chance to present their research in a friendly environment, gain insightful feedback on this research, and to network and socialise with their peers. 

For more information on History Lab North East please check us out on ...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistoryLabNE 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryLabNorthEast  

Next Workshop announced: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY (10 May 2013, Teesside Uni)

We are pleased to invite speakers for the second History Lab North East Workshop which is to be held at Teesside University on Friday 10 May. Participants are asked to submit an abstract which will form the basis of a 10-15 minute paper on the use of interdisciplinary approaches within the study of history.

As with the first workshop, papers should give a brief outline of their work and the use of interdisciplinary approaches within their research. Subjects could include but are not limited to the use of oral testimony, social science methodologies, sociological approaches to history and literature as a historical source. The emphasis in the discussion will be on these approaches, their usefulness (or lack of) within the context of historical research, and how the study of history can be part of a wider research community.

Those interested in giving a presentation please send a 100-200 word abstract via email to historylab.northeast@gmail.com with ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches’ as the subject by 19 April 2013.

Follow the History Lab on social media for further updates:

Twitter: @HistoryLabNE

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HistoryLabNorthEast

Invitation to Workshop: 'The Relevance of History' (15 February, Northumbria University)

We’d like to invite all postgraduate history students in the North East to the first event of the revived North East History Lab. The event will be an informal afternoon workshop held at Northumbria University (Lipman Building, room 121) on the 15^th of February all about the ‘relevance’ of History, with the aim of creating a network of postgraduate students in the North East for debate, discussion and collaboration. The planned schedule is available below. In the interests of stimulating discussion we will be posting regularly on our blog, twitter and facebook in the build-up to the event and we encourage everyone to get in touch and let us know what they think about the ‘relevance’ of history!

We would kindly ask all interested in participating to send us a short email to historylab.northeast@gmail.com to enable us to plan ahead.

 

Schedule of the event

12.00h                   Registration

12.30h                   Postgraduate Research in Context: What is the Relevance of History Today?

                                Opening remarks by the organizers

Maria Cannon (Northumbria University): ‘Families in crisis: What can the sixteenth century tell us about modern family life?’

Bertie Dockerill (University of Leicester): ‘A Tale of Two Boroughs: Changing aspects of governance, belonging and identity in the Greater Nottingham and Derby area, 1945-1969’

Lewis Young (Teesside University): ‘The relevance of history: the Press – reporting the news as it happened or as it wants?’

14.15h                   Break and Refreshments

14.30h                   Postgraduate Research Training

Helen Williams (Northumbria University): ‘Making your Research Relevant - Public Engagement through Partnerships’

16.00h                   Further Events by History Lab North East

 

Followed by drinks and further networking…

 

Kind regards,

Andre, Stephen and Stan (History Lab organizers, Northumbria Uni)

Countdown to Relaunch!

It’s not long until the first event of the re-launched History Lab North East. We’re looking forward to welcoming postgraduate students from across the region to Northumbria University on the 15 February for a discussion on the ‘relevance of history’. We’ve got a great selection of topics to base our discussion on, through which we will ask whether historical research can, or should, contribute to today’s world. With Sir John Seeley’s explanation that ‘history is past politics; and politics present history’ ringing in our ears, it seems likely that contemporary politics will feature high on the agenda. For starters, Stephen - one of our organisers - has written a short piece on the 'relevance of history' in relation to one aspect of the current debate on Scottish independence, which you can read below.

André, Stan and Stephen

History Lab North East Organisers

 

Scottish Membership of the EU

In 2014 there will be a referendum in Scotland on Scottish independence. Much of the debate about what an independent Scotland would look like has centred on whether it could automatically retain membership of the European Union, or whether it would need to reapply. Supporters of independence – eager to play down the potential uncertainties of independence – argue for the former scenario, while unionists – equally eager to highlight the uncertainties – maintain the latter. Perhaps in contrast to the debates surrounding Europe taking place south of the border– which are largely over whether the UK should leave the EU – supporters and opponents of Scottish independence are alike in assuming a Scottish bias in favour of remaining in Europe. Whether or not such an assumption is accurate, and without taking a view on the merits of independence, let us look to history to examine whether an independent Scotland can expect to remain part of the European Union.

Indeed, that is what an academic from Northwestern University in Illinois has done. Professor Scheffer has argued that with Scottish independence – which would mean the scrapping of the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England – both Scotland and the remainder of the United Kingdom would become ‘successor states’. This would mean that Scotland and the UK would have an equal right to EU membership, with both needing to renegotiate the precise details of their respective memberships. If the UK was created by the 1707 Anglo-Scottish Act of Union, then Professor Scheffer’s view would seem to be the most logical. Opponents of independence disagree, though Professor Scheffer may feel that it is for them to explain why the nullification of the historical and legal basis of the joint Anglo-Scottish state would not result in the creation of two separate entities constitutionally equal in their relationship with the European Union.

One such explanation may be that the United Kingdom of 1707 has been superseded by more recent historical events, for instance the 1800 Act of Union with Ireland (not to mention the subsequent independence of much of Ireland, and the creation of Northern Ireland) and the creation of a Welsh Assembly, granting greater national political recognition to what officially remains an English principality. In this interpretation, history may be used to demonstrate that Scotland has simply become one of many constituent parts of a larger British union, and that Scotland’s exit would not necessarily mean the end of the UK. Thus the UK can perhaps expect to remain part of the EU, while an independent Scotland would not. Arguably then, history is relevant to this particular present-day question in any way that you like. History can be called upon by supporters and opponents of Scottish independence.

Yet the question of Scottish EU membership – if and when it arises, and indeed if the UK itself is still in the EU – will more likely be settled through Europe-wide negotiations which will largely take into account contemporary legal, economic and political considerations. In this particular case, there is no precedent of a complicated little collection of islands, like the British Isles, renegotiating their places within the European Union. So in more ways than one, history doesn’t give any easy answers.