The BARS 2025 Executive Elections will run online between Monday 1st September and Monday 15th September (11:59pm); a voting link with instructions will be circulated to members.
There are four candidates for the role of International Officer; their expressions of interest can be read below. To ensure that members’ views are taken into account as fully as possible, the International Officer will be elected using a ranked choice system. If you are a voter, please read all four of the statements below so that you can rank the candidates in order of preference on the voting form.
Candidate Statement: Serena Qihui Pei
Dear BARS Members,
I am writing to kindly ask for your consideration in supporting my candidacy for the position of BARS International Officer.
From the outset, I bring an international perspective rooted in my own background. By way of self-introduction, I often say that––I am a Coleridgean, and I come from the real Xanadu (!)—I grew up in Inner Mongolia, where the historic Xanadu was located. After completing my BA in Beijing, I moved to London to pursue postgraduate study at UCL, where I continued into doctoral research and have recently submitted my PhD thesis: British Romanticism and Daoism: Conceptual Affinities and Historical Encounters, 1770s–1820s, which aligns with, and extends, current critical trends in global Romanticism. Through this project, I have deepened cross-cultural understanding and advanced public engagement with global intellectual heritage. With my doctoral work now complete, I am eager to devote my full energy and commitment to serving in this role.
I have been an active participant in BARS activities and other events within Romantic Studies since the beginning of my PhD, regularly attending the London–Paris Romanticism Seminar and presenting my research at major conferences, including BARS 2024 (Glasgow), for which I received bursary support from the Charles Lamb Society, as well as the Coleridge Conference 2024 (Grasmere), and the Transnational Romanticism Conference (Göttingen). I also look forward to contributing to the upcoming BARS 2025 Early Career and Postgraduate Researcher Conference (Cambridge).
Beyond participation, I also have hands-on experience in organising international academic events. In May 2024, I served as the lead organiser of the international conference Traversing Beyond Borders: Intermediality and Cross-Cultural Communication funded by UCL’s Institute of Advanced Studies (Event Link). In this role, I oversaw the entire process—from developing the original concept and securing funding, to coordinating logistics and administrative details, and now editing the proceedings for publication. This experience has given me strong organisational and leadership skills, which I am eager to apply in supporting and expanding BARS’s international collaborations.
My research career has been shaped by cross-cultural exchange and grounded in a strong understanding of the international contexts of Romantic Studies. In 2023, I received the Stephen Copley Research Award, which supported my archival research trips hosted by Peking University and Fudan University. This project focused on Thomas Manning, a close friend of Charles Lamb and the only person known to have met both Napoleon and the Dalai Lama. I have also studied and presented internationally, including as an exchange scholar in the English Department at Yale (2022), a participant in the International Summer School of Romanticism in Prague (2023), and the Environmental Humanities Summer School in Rome (2022). These opportunities have deepened my conviction that British Romantic Studies must be pursued within a truly global and interdisciplinary framework.
Drawing on my experience and skills, I would pursue three core priorities if elected as International Officer:
1. International Collaboration
- Based on my established and continually expanding international networks, I would strengthen BARS’s collaborations with international organisations—for example, Romantic Studies research groups at leading Chinese universities—and enhance connections with wider scholarly networks to create new (joint) funding opportunities for members.
- I would be committed to develop new outreach activities, such as global reading groups, to foster dialogue and collaboration across borders.
- I would work closely with the President, Vice President, and the Executive team to foster global partnerships to enhance the international profile of Romantic Studies. For example, I would explore collaborations with international summer schools to increase opportunities for mobility and cross-cultural research.
2. International Representation
- I am keen to contribute actively to BARS conferences, events, and initiatives to ensure that international members are fully represented and supported, for example, through hybrid formats, multilingual CFPs, or online workshops. Drawing on my experience of organising the international conferenceat UCL, where I introduced hybrid formats and digital outreach that enabled colleagues from the UK, EU, US, China, and Iran to participate fully, I would support BARS in planning events that foster genuine global engagement.
- I would support the translation of selected BARS events (or event materials such as abstracts and programmes) to make them more accessible for non-native English-speaking audiences.
- I would also act as a principal point of contact for international members, ensuring that their perspectives and needs are heard within BARS. For example, I would set up regular feedback channels for postgraduate and early-career members based outside the UK and bring their concerns directly to Executive meetings.
3. International Promotion/ Outreach
I am committed to expanding BARS’s international visibility by developing outreach strategies that support the association in articulating and celebrating the global diversity of Romantic Studies.
- I would strengthen BARS’s outreach by promoting calls for papers, events, and initiatives across diverse platforms, including social media channels widely used in Asia such as WeChat and RedNote, thereby encouraging new membership, particularly among postgraduate and early-career researchers in China and beyond, who may not yet be connected with BARS.
- I would continue to maintain and strengthen BARS’s ties with long-standing international partners in Europe and North America, for instance NASSR, while also working to expand into underrepresented regions. To support this, I would promote BARS’s international reach through spotlight features, for example, highlighting international research projects, member profiles, and cross-border collaborations.
- I would share and support the translation of international job advertisements and funding opportunities from other countries, enabling BARS members to access a wider range of career pathways and resources. For example, this could include translating research fellowships advertised in Asia and circulating early-career opportunities through European networks.
In all these priorities, I would be guided by BARS’s core mission to cultivate a vibrant, inclusive, and globally engaged scholarly community.
If you have any questions about my proposals, please feel free to contact me at serena.qihui.pei@ucl.ac.uk.
Thank you very much for considering my candidacy.
With my very best wishes,
Serena Qihui Pei
Candidate Statement: Silvia Riccardi
I am a postdoctoral fellow at Umeå University, having previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at Uppsala University. As a literary scholar with research interests in book history, material culture, word and image, reception studies, and digital humanities, I approach Romanticism from an interdisciplinary perspective that combines historical, visual, and textual analysis. I also serve on the advisory board of Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly. My first monograph, Dark Romanticism: Literature, Art, and the Body (2025), with chapters on William Blake, Henry Fuseli, and Mary Shelley, reflects my commitment to situating Romantic-period texts and images within broader cultural and critical frameworks.
Over the past six years, I have been an active member of BARS, valuing the association not only as a central forum for Romantic Studies in the UK but also as a hub connecting an international network of scholars. My engagement with BARS, alongside participation in conferences hosted by GER and NASSR, has given me a broad perspective on how Romantic Studies is practiced and promoted in different national and institutional contexts. Through my academic appointments in Germany and Sweden, I have gained valuable experience in organizing conferences, collaborating with colleagues across institutions, and building international networks.
As a member of the executive committee of NARS, the Nordic Association for Romantic Studies, a particular highlight was co-organizing the 2024 symposium in Umeå, where we welcomed former BARS president Ian Haywood as a keynote speaker. The event exemplified the value of connecting participants from different backgrounds and creating spaces for dialogue within this vibrant field: https://romantikstudier.dk/en/news-and-events/translate-to-english-vis/artikel/the-international-symposium.
If elected, I would work toward fostering a dialogue with other Romantic Studies organizations and strengthening globally inclusive collaborations through joint events, shared initiatives, and informal networks of support. A key priority would be to represent the interests of international colleagues and to help plan conferences and programs that provide meaningful opportunities for participation. My aim would be to ensure that members at all career stages feel both represented and fully integrated into the life of the association, while also promoting BARS within the wider international community of Romantic Studies.
Candidate Statement: Millie Schurch
I am writing to express my interest in the role of BARS International Officer.
My vision for the role of International Officer has three core elements: to support and promote the work of BARS members who live outside of the UK; to facilitate and make smooth the experience of British-based scholars conducting research or moving abroad for work; and to develop BARS’ relationship with its cousin organisations within Europe and beyond. I am familiar with the challenges and possibilities involved in international research and networks, and I am excited about how BARS’ conferences, online symposium programme, blog and online resources, and bursary opportunities uphold our intellectual exchanges on an international scale.
I would pursue my vision for BARS’ internationalisation through the following actions:
- I would represent the interests of international members at Executive meetings and in organising BARS conferences and events. I would initiate regular email contact with international members to ensure that their events, activities, and publications are circulated amongst the BARS membership.
- I would establish an “ambassador” scheme – a network whereby BARS members with experience living and working abroad are matched as mentors to scholars seeking international opportunities. This scheme would increase the accessibility of international research by pooling and sharing information on funding, fellowships, archives and collections, and on the practical dimensions of international research, such as visas and accommodation.
- I would grow BARS’ existing partnerships with, for example, the Société d’Études du Romantisme Anglais (SERA) and the Gesellschaft für Englische Romantik (GER), and I would seek new ones with the Nordic Association for Romantic Studies (NARS) and the Inter-University Centre for the Study of Romanticism (CISR). I would promote partners’ events within BARS’ network, and I would publicise and facilitate opportunities for collaboration and exchange.
My experience as a British Romanticist working abroad has prepared me well to deliver these aims and to represent the interests of BARS’ international members. After completing my PhD in the UK in 2020, I have spent my early career undertaking postdoctoral research and teaching at the universities of Uppsala and Stockholm, and I currently work in both Britain and Sweden. I have gained sensitivity to the national, regional and institutional diversity that can characterise research and teaching in Romantic Studies on an international scale, and I have balanced the practical challenges of living abroad with the intellectual advantages of international research. I cannot emphasise enough the value of my BARS membership as a friendly, consistent, and anchoring presence throughout these experiences. I would be delighted to continue, and develop, the warm support and opportunities for involvement that BARS offers its international members, and I believe that my experience of international research and teaching in Romanticism equips me with the knowledge and understanding that will enable me to do so.
Thank you for considering my expression of interest.
Candidate Statement: Patrick Vincent
My name is Patrick Vincent, and I have been teaching at the University of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland, since 2004. A longtime member of BARS, I would be thrilled to help our association continue honing its international outreach. My research has always sought to go beyond national literatures, with two monographs on transnational themes, a CUP history of European Romanticism, and a soon to be published ERR special edition on British Romanticism and Europe. I have also helped encourage transnational scholarship through conferences, including the 20th annual NASSR conference, which was particularly international, and the British Romanticism and Europe conference in 2022. As a member of the ERR international advisory board, finally I have been promoting reviews of non-English scholarship.
As International Officer, I would liaise with different national associations and transnational research forums to try to better coordinate conference themes and dates (including online talks), to facilitate dual memberships, and to help disseminate different associations’ activities. A dynamic association with a wide offering of activities, I am convinced that BARS can serve as a worldwide hub for Romantic scholarship.