The BARS 2025 Executive Elections will run online between Monday 13th July and Monday 27th July (11:59pm); a voting link with instructions will be circulated to members.
Matthew Sangster is running unopposed for re-election as President. His election statement is available below.
Mary Fairclough is running unopposed for re-election as Treasurer. Her election statement is available below.
Matthew Sangster
Dear BARS Members,
I would like to ask you to support me in undertaking a second and final term as President of the British Association for Romantic Studies. I would not stand again if I felt that I had nothing further to offer in the role, but having considered, I think there are initiatives I could work on in concert with the Executive that would make a meaningful contribution to BARS’ ongoing success. I have the willingness and the capacity to devote time and energy to the Association, and would be honoured if you would consider endorsing my continuing as President for another two years.
I detailed my long history with BARS in my previous election statement. Since my election as President, I have worked hard alongside the Executive to strengthen the Association, beginning by chairing ‘Romantic Making and Unmaking’, BARS’ 2024 International Conference at the University of Glasgow. Over the subsequent two years, I have focused on addressing the five priorities I set out in 2024:
- Digital Presence: Thanks to the efforts of our Digital Events Officer, Roslyn Irving, and working with numerous BARS officers and members, we have delivered a full and exciting Digital Events programme, ramping up extensively in the last twelve months. In July 2025, we hosted the first two BARS Digital Symposia, ‘Expanding Queer Romanticisms’ and ‘Global Romanticism’; we plan to continue this initiative in 2027. We have also worked to enable remote delegates to present as part of BARS’ International and Early Career and Postgraduate conferences: something we plan to continue.
- Empowering Members: We gauged members’ views on BARS’ activities with a comprehensive survey in early 2025, the results of which have guided our thinking about what we prioritise. We held our first Online General Meeting in June 2025 to hear members’ views, and will continue to hold such meetings in years the International Conference does not run.
- Ensuring Sustainable Finances: To deal with rising expenses, and guided by the members’ survey, we instituted a fee increase and introduced a sustaining membership rate in July 2025. These will maintain BARS’ activities at current levels, allowing us to support conferences, events and a wide range of award schemes, with special emphasis on emerging scholars. BARS’ budget last year was balanced, and the Association is now in good financial health.
- Constitutional Rework: We have revised the BARS Constitution to reflect both the Association’s broad purposes and its current practices. The revised Constitution was approved at the Online General Meeting in June 2025.
- Outreach: I have continued to meet with BARS’ fellow societies (including NASSR, the K-SAA, BAVS, SERA, NARS, GER and other international groupings) and with representatives of a number of Romanticism-focused heritage institutions to co-ordinate activities and share best practice. I have also supported the work of our Outreach & Impact, Non-Academic and Schools & Education Liaison Officers as they have developed new initiatives.
In addition, I have co-ordinated BARS processes, elections and appointments, and supported the officers of the Executive in the execution of their roles. I greatly enjoyed travelling to Cambridge to attend BARS’ 2025 Early Career and Postgraduate Conference, ‘Romantic (Un)Consciousness’, where I heard about a plethora of exciting new work in the field, and I am very excited about ‘Romantic Retrospection’ in Birmingham at the end of July; I have been helping the conference team with preparations for this when requested.
If elected to a second term, these would be my main priorities:
- Global Collaboration: An initial meeting organised by BARS’ International Officer, Patrick Vincent, demonstrated strong potential for productive work with the international Romantic Studies community. I am keen to pursue new events and collaborations in this area.
- Governance Review: BARS has grown considerably in recent years, and this means we need to review how we operate as an organisation. I am currently working with members of the Exec on this, and will bring proposals to members at the BARS General Meeting in Birmingham. If re-elected, I will work to put arrangements in place to ensure that BARS’ governance meets the necessary standards of clarity and accountability.
- Distinguished Scholars Awards: BARS focuses much of its funding on early career scholars – and rightly so – but there is further potential for the Association to honour those who have distinguished records of research in and service to the field. I am keen to establish a means for BARS to recognise such contributions.
- Ensuring the continued success of BARS conferences: I will work to support the organisation of the 2027 Early Career and Postgraduate Conference and the 2028 BARS International Conference. I will also co-ordinate securing a host for BARS 2030 before the end of my term, so that this can be announced at the end of the 2028 conference.
- BARS’ 40th Anniversary: BARS will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2029; I am eager to begin preparations for a commemorative event and work on updating BARS’ archive.
If re-elected, I will continue to work closely with my colleagues on the Executive to ensure that the Association runs smoothly and equitably, focusing particularly on supporting postgraduate and early career scholars with opportunities and professional training. I will also regularly engage with BARS members to make sure that the Association is doing the best it can to support all those working in the field. This is a very difficult time for many colleagues in universities – this makes it especially important that BARS provides spaces where members can seek support, share knowledge and work together to keep Romantic Studies flourishing in all its forms.
Many thanks and best wishes,
Matthew Sangster
Mary Fairclough
I would like to continue in my current role as BARS Treasurer, as I think that BARS is an increasingly crucial collective, and a source of strength and support to all of us working in this field at the current time of crisis. I consider working for the BARS Executive to be a really important act of academic citizenship for the whole community, and it’s one that I would be honoured to continue. During my two-year stint as Treasurer so far, I have supported the organisers of two BARS conferences, the PGR and ECR conference in Cambridge 2025, and the International conference in Birmingham 2026. I have worked with the President and Membership Secretary to introduce a new membership fee and funding arrangement. Since its introduction in 2025 this arrangement has set BARS on a more secure financial footing which will enable it to sustain its increased and varied financial support for its members, in particular early career and precariously employed colleagues. I have revised BARS’s provision for conference support, increasing the budget for BARS support for events and introducing a more transparent application process. If elected I hope to continue work along these lines to ensure BARS’s financial stability and to provide fair and equitable access to support for all BARS members.