BARS Blog

August 15-18, 2024 Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

We convene the 30th Annual NASSR Conference in Washington D.C., a city that witnessed on January 6, 2021 an insurrection, which Padma Rangarajan has described as a “a rebellion in miniature.” Thinking from this place, we invite participants to reflect on the nature of insurrection and the counter-insurrections that follow in the wake of uprisings. Romanticism has often been associated with the politics of “revolution,” which suggest a wholesale inversion or overturning. We wish to ask about other motions and scales of action and repressive reactions that took place in the nineteenth century. Where did seemingly small acts of resistance spark enormous consequences? How do we understand the relationship between political insurrection and the subjective “state of insurrection and turmoil” that Victor Frankenstein describes or Jane Eyre’s “brain in tumult and…heart in insurrection”? Are there lessons that we can draw from nineteenth-century insurrections – social and textual – and bring to bear upon our present political realities? How might recent uprisings and the often-aligned state and white supremacist counters to them revise our reading of the past?

Please submit abstracts of 250 words, panel proposals of 750 words (including details of individual papers plus a rationale for the panel) using the submission form by January 5, 2024.

For more information see here.

WHEN

August 15, 2024 at 6:00pm – August 18, 2024

WHERE

Georgetown University
3700 O St NW
Washington, DC 20057
United States

9^th September 2023

In October 1849, the poet John Clare wrote to his son Charles from Northampton asylum about all the things he was missing back in Northborough, and in Helpston, his first home. Along with his garden, the woods, and various friends and family members, there was a particular kind of landscape he longed for: ‘I shall be glad to get out o’ thought & out o’ sight in the Fens as usual’. The purpose of this study day is to revisit the enduring importance of fens in Clare’s work, taking in the broad scope of how they shaped his poetic imagination, his interest in the environment, his understanding of mental and physical wellbeing, and his sense of community. A mixture of literary discussion and field-work, the day will offer a selection of short talks and group poetry readings that explore Clare’s fens in writing, before embarking on a guided walk of one of the areas surrounding Helpston familiar to Clare, led by the artist Kathryn Parsons, and Sarah Lambert, a botanist and ecologist who often works with Langdyke Countryside Trust. 

This one-day event, organised by the Centre for John Clare Studies and Kathryn Parsons and held partly at the John Clare Cottage in Helpston, is open to anybody who is interested in thinking with Clare about the importance of these strange, liminal, and – in our present moment – much-altered landscapes.

There are a limited number of spaces available, so registration in advance is essential. Please email Sarah Houghton-Walker at sh250@cam.ac.uk to register your interest in attending in the first instance. A full programme and finer details of the day will be sent to those on this list in due course, along with information on how to secure your booking through our secure payment site. Please note that a place can’t be guaranteed until payment has been received. 

Hi all, 

The Year’s Work in English Studies (published by Oxford UP, sponsored by the English Association) is searching for a contributor to cover Romantic drama (1780-1830) for the upcoming edition (2022 publications).  Reviewers are compensated and may keep the books sent for review.  For more information, to express an interest, please contact Steven Lynn at lynns@sc.edu. 

Thanks!

Steven Lynn

Dean, South Carolina Honors College

Louise Fry Scudder Professor

The British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) would like to invite applications for a Communications Assistant to assist with the BARS Blog and social media for a period of one year tenable from June 2023. We are looking for someone with previous experience of using blogs and social media for academic purposes. This position is paid an honorarium of £750 and is open to all postgraduate students and early career researchers working in Romantic Studies anywhere in the world. This role will require around 1-2 hours per week.

Responsibilities will include:

• Leading and contributing to the BARS Blog series ‘On This Day’ and ‘Archive Spotlight’
• Proposing and curating new blog posts/series
• Delivering an active and strategic social media presence
• Attending online meetings with members of the BARS Executive Committee

The successful applicant will work closely with the Communications Officer, Amy Wilcockson.

This post is an excellent career-development opportunity for a PhD student or early career researcher. You will have the chance to develop valuable skills in the field of scholarly communications and to contribute to the BARS postgraduate community. You will gain valuable skills (website management, content creation and digital communications) which will be useful in academic and non-academic roles alike. We expect that this role will be held alongside other academic or professional commitments such as completing a research project and/or teaching, and we encourage flexible working. 

Essential requirements:

• Postgraduate student or early career researcher
• Interest in British Romanticism and Romanticism more broadly
• A member of BARS or willing to become a member

Desirable experience: 

• Previous involvement in writing or editing blog posts 
• Experience of using WordPress 
• Skilled in using social media for professional purposes, specifically experience of using Twitter and Facebook

To apply: please send an academic CV and personal statement (no more than 1 A4 page) explaining why you are best placed to undertake the duties above to britishassociationromantic@gmail.com by 5 June 2023.
Informal enquiries can be directed to Amy Wilcockson at amy.wilcockson@nottingham.ac.uk