CALL FOR PANELS & PAPERS

CROSSINGS: THE CULTURES OF GLOBAL EXCHANGE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES

18-20 OCTOBER 2012
THE WESTIN EDMONTON
EDMONTON, ALBERTA

“The Cultures of Global Exchange” seeks papers investigating what happens when cultures meet in the eighteenth century. Many historians now trace the origins of modern globalization to the eighteenth century, pointing to the global circulation of goods, labour, and information as its defining feature. By focusing on the nature of cross-cultural exchange, the conference will pursue the significance of framing the century within the terms of a nascent globalized world.We invite proposals that investigate cultural exchanges in a range of fields, including but not limited to history, literature, visual culture, geography, economics, anthropology and area studies. Investigations of transcultural crossings could address dialogues between Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Levant, India, China and the South Pacific. Especially welcome are papers on the topic of cultural encounters between Europeans and Western Canadian First Nationspeoples.

Plenary Speakers:

• Srinivas Aravamudan, Duke University
• David Bell, Princeton University

• the material history of global traffic
• translation histories
• the culture of mobility
• information/scholarly networks
• theories of globalization
• travel writing
• eighteenth-century empires
• ideas of difference
• trans-cultural versus cross-cultural
• literary circulations
• representations of cross-cultural encounters
• cultural and commercial trade routes
• spaces of intellectual exchange

Download as PDF and in French!

Enlightenment Liberties

ISECS International Seminar for early-career researchers

Indiana University, Bloomington (USA), 2-7 July 2012

With the patronage of the Société Française d’Etude du XVIIIe siècle (SFEDS) and the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS)

Organisers : Guillaume Ansart (IUB), Catriona Seth (Nancy Université)

« Liberty or death », « Liberty, equality, fraternity », many revolutionary slogans put the conquest of liberty at the top of the list of citizens’ vindications. This was the culmination of a trend under way throughout the century and which sought for freedom in various fields. Free mores, freedom to worship, liberty of expression – « Without the liberty to condemn, there is no flattering praise », as Figaro stated –, Liberty of conscience, Freedom of Spirit, Free trade, Free circulation, but also poetic licenses, franchises and immunities are some of the liberties which were debated during the Enlightenment. Questions were raised regarding the confinement of prisoners, as well as of the sick or the insane, but also concerning the imprisonment of women in often arranged or even forced marriages. The value of moral, ecclesiastical or civil censorship was debated. European lives and those of the people of America, Africa, Asia or Oceania were considered in parallel to try and determine who was actually free: natural man or the citizen whose actions were protected by an enlightened regime. We invite proposals regarding all these approaches to enlightenment liberties, without excluding any field or method.

The International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) invites applications from scholars in all fields of eighteenth-century studies within the context of this one-week residential seminar. The seminar is limited to 15 participants. The proposals (approx. 2 pages, single-spaced) should be based on an original research project (e.g. a doctoral dissertation) that deals with an aspect of the theme mentioned above. Because this is a seminar rather than a conference, each participant will be given approximately one hour to present the texts and questions which will then form the basis of a group discussion.

Preference will be given to scholars who are at the beginning of their academic career (PhD or equivalent obtained after 2006). The official languages are French and English.

Applications should include the following information:

• a brief curriculum vitae with date of PhD (or equivalent) and indication of the candidate’s proficiency in foreign languages.
• a list of principal publications and scholarly presentations.
• a brief description of the proposed paper (approx. 2 pages, single-spaced).

Download as PDF and in French!

• den FRANZ-STEPHAN-PREIS für Dissertationen oder für Arbeiten vergleichbarer Bedeutung zur Habsburger Monarchie im 18. Jahrhundert
• den FRANZ-STEPHAN-FÖRDERPREIS für Diplom- oder Masterarbeiten mit Schwerpunkt im 18. Jahrhundert.

Transformation in European History
Preconditions – Processes – Perceptions

6th Annual Graduate Conference in European History (GRACEH), Vienna, May 3–5, 2012

organized by the University of Vienna (Universität Wien, Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät)
in cooperation with the Central European University (CEU), Budapest and the European University Institute (EUI), Florence

The “transicion” of political systems in Southern Europe and Latin America since the 1970s and the revolutionary changes in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989/91 have resulted in the rise of “transformation studies” in social sciences. The term transformation is commonly understood as the politically steered transition from communist dictatorship to democracy, from a planned to a market economy, and from a closed to an open society. In contrast to this teleological reading the 6th GRACEH conference intends to explore a historical approach to transformation. A very broad working definition of the term would characterize transformation as a “period of especially intense and accelerated structural changes on a political, social, economic, and cultural level” that were caused by major political and social upheavals such as the breakdown of the continental empires in 1918, the French Revolution in the late 18th century, or the Reformation. Unlike the social sciences, we wish to broaden the application as far back as to the beginning of modern age. In what way can this concept of transformation be applied to contemporary, modern and early modern contexts? What kind of adjustments of the concept are required for the historicization of transformation?

The following three key aspects will serve as guiding questions throughout the conference:

• Which preconditions lead to periods of transformation? Which triggers, causes and turning points can be identified?
• On which levels does transformation occur? How can the complexity of transformation processes be analyzed without being trapped in teleological assumptions?
• How is transformation perceived and interpreted by internal and external observers? How do transformation discourses influence the process itself?

ISECS International Seminar for early-career researchers

Indiana University, Bloomington (USA), 2-7 July 2012

with the patronage of the Société Française d’Etude du XVIIIe siècle (SFEDS) and the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS)

Organisers: Guillaume Ansart (IUB), Catriona Seth (Nancy Université)

Enlightenment Liberties

« Liberty or death », « Liberty, equality, fraternity », many revolutionary slogans put the conquest of liberty at the top of the list of citizens’ vindications. This was the culmination of a trend under way throughout the century and which sought for freedom in various fields. Free mores, freedom to worship, liberty of expression – « Without the liberty to condemn, there is no flattering praise », as Figaro stated –, Liberty of conscience, Freedom of Spirit, Free trade, Free circulation, but also poetic licenses, franchises and immunities are some of the liberties which were debated during the Enlightenment. Questions were raised regarding the confinement of prisoners, as well as of the sick or the insane, but also concerning the imprisonment of women in often arranged or even forced marriages. The value of moral, ecclesiastical or civil censorship was debated. European lives and those of the people of America, Africa, Asia or Oceania were considered in parallel to try and determine who was actually free: natural man or the citizen whose actions were protected by an enlightened regime. We invite proposals regarding all these approaches to enlightenment liberties, without excluding any field or method.

Séminaire international SIEDS des jeunes dix-huitiémistes

Indiana University, Bloomington (USA), 2-7 juillet 2012

avec le patronage de la Société Française d’Etude du XVIIIe siècle (SFEDS) et de l’American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS)

Organisateurs : Guillaume Ansart (IUB), Catriona Seth (Nancy Université)

Les Libertés des Lumières

« La liberté ou la mort », « Liberté, égalité, fraternité », plusieurs des slogans révolutionnaires mettent la conquête de la liberté en tête des revendications du citoyen. Il s’agit de la culmination d’un mouvement engagé au cours du siècle, qui interroge les libertés dans différents domaines. Liberté des mœurs, Liberté du culte, Liberté d’expression – « Sans la liberté de blâmer, il n’est pas d’éloge flatteur », rappelle Figaro –, Liberté de conscience, Liberté d’esprit, Liberté de commerce, Liberté de circulation, mais aussi les licences poétiques, les franchises et immunités sont au nombre des Libertés débattues au siècle des Lumières. On assiste à des interrogations sur l’enfermement des prisonniers, mais aussi des malades ou des fous, ainsi que des femmes dans des unions souvent arrangées ou même forcées. On débat de la valeur des censures morales, ecclésiastiques ou civiles. On met en relation la vie européenne et celle de peuples d’Amérique, d’Afrique, d’Asie ou d’Océanie, pour tenter de déterminer qui est véritablement libre : l’homme naturel ou celui dont le régime éclairé protège les agissements. Ce sont toutes ces approches des libertés des Lumières que nous invitons à envisager, sans exclusive de discipline, ni d’angle d’étude.