Call for Proposals | ISECS Seminar for Early Career Scholars
From the call for proposals (which includes the French text, too) . . .
2014 ISECS International Seminar for Early Career Eighteenth-Century Scholars
Arts of Communication: In Manuscript, in Print, in the Arts, and in Person
Manchester, 8-12 September 2014
Proposals due by 14 March 2014
The International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) invites applications from scholars in all fields of eighteenth-century studies within the context of a one-week International Seminar for Early Career Eighteenth-Century Scholars.
This annual event now has an established reputation for promoting intellectual and social engagement between scholars from many countries. In 2014, the meeting will take place in Manchester, UK, and will be co-sponsored by the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS) and the University of Manchester with its John Rylands Library, a Victorian masterpiece which will provide the Seminar venue. Other scholarly bodies in Manchester which may provide support include the People’s History Museum; the Museum of Science & Industry; Chetham’s Library; the Portico Library; and the Whitworth Art Gallery. The programme will include a reception, a dinner, a guided tour of Manchester and a visit to Quarry Bank Mill, ‘one of Britain’s greatest industrial heritage sites’.
The International Seminar will be held from Monday 8 September to Friday 12 September 2014 in Manchester, UK, directed by Prof. Jeremy Gregory (President BSECS: University of Manchester) and Prof. Penelope J. Corfield (Vice-President ISECS: Royal Holloway, University of London). This year, the theme of the International Seminar will be: C18 Arts of Communication: in manuscript, in print, in the arts, and in person.
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Dear Sir, If you think the word ‘Sir’ at present necessary, then I cannot object to it … – but it appears cold and & seems to place one at an uncomfortable distance. [letter to tradesman father from medical student son, Edinburgh, Sept. 1781]
It has long been known that the formal advice manuals and etiquette books published in such numbers in the eighteenth century were not taken literally by all readers. Instead, a dynamic and fluid art of inter-personal communication was evolving. Literacy levels were rising and access to all forms of media were spreading (just as today new social media are dramatically extending and changing forms of participation). The result was a simmering tension between formal/ informal styles; between public/ private modes; and, as a result, scope for innovation.
This International Seminar will address questions relating to the evolution of the art of communication, both following conventions and yet also breaking them. The focus falls especially upon contemporary awareness and innovations in the style and purpose of communication in different media – and the shared role of recipients, whether reading letters and books, viewing art, hearing music, or greeting/ talking in person. Was there a clear trend for change? If so, how should scholars characterise it? It is not enough to refer loosely to the advent of ‘Modernity’ (a slippery term with too many meanings). But if not that, then what?
1. Manuscript communication, including letters: Discussions here can draw upon recent studies of the spread of intimate letter-writing among all classes of society. In literature, there are also famous novels narrated via the medium of epistolary communication. Among European scientists/intellectuals, letters formed a key means of establishing informal networks, fostering a context favourable to scientific and technical innovation. In all these contexts, changing styles of greeting (as in the quotation above) offer one relevant theme to consider as well as other authorial choices in modes of communication.
2. Printed communication, in newspapers, broadsheets, books: In recent years, there has been a huge growth of scholarly interest in the history of book-publishing and book-selling. With that, there is scope for more focus upon new styles in print communication, such as specialisation for different markets (eg. the recently-studied children’s literature). Readers’ responses are relevant here, as shown in the history of reading newspapers; as are authorial appeals to implied readers, demonstrated in the history of literary erotica.
3. Communication by sound and sight in the arts: Tensions between traditional formulas and innovation, which often recur in the arts, merit fresh attention in the C18 context. In music, there was a gamut of evolving styles from formal compositions to popular songs (and the overlap between them). In the visual arts, there was a similar range from ‘high art’ to casual sketches and to illustrated manuscripts, as evidenced by William Blake.
4. Communication in person, including the arts of greeting: Alongside formal encounters, there was a negotiated intimacy, seen in this period by, for example, the rise of the egalitarian handshake. Themes of interpersonal communication have relevance for C21 film and TV representations of eighteenth-century social encounters – which tend to reproduce courtly manners, underestimating more casual semi-public/domestic styles.
Submission of proposals. The seminar is limited to 15 participants. The proposals (approx. 1.5 pages long, single-spaced) should be based on an original research project (e.g. a doctoral dissertation or post-doctoral project) that deals with one of the aspects mentioned above. The format of the seminar gives each participant a solo-session, with a 40-minute presentation followed by a further 20 minutes of questions/discussion directed at the paper.
Preference will be given to scholars who are at the beginning of their academic career (PhD or equivalent in or after 2009). The official languages are French and English.
Applications should include the following information:
* short curriculum vitae with date of PhD (or equivalent)
* list of principal publications and scholarly presentations
* brief description of the proposed paper (approx. 1.5 pages long, single-spaced)
* ONE letter of recommendation
Lodging and travel: Accommodation will be provided free on site, with free breakfast, lunch, and evening meals, including Conference dinner. Travel costs will also be met, if participants are unable to obtain travel funding from their home institutions. PLEASE NOTE: The organisers will book both travel tickets and accommodation.
Publication: The Seminar papers are usually published by Honoré Champion Éditeur (Paris) in the series ‘Lumières internationales’. In addition, any later studies based upon the John Rylands Library Special Collections can be considered for publication in Bulletin of the John Rylands Library: for full information see http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/.
Deadlines: The deadline for submission of proposals is Friday 14 March 2014. Applications should be sent preferably by email, with details in file attachments, or by post (if email unavailable) to Prof. Jeremy Gregory, for consideration by himself and Prof. Corfield:
Prof. Jeremy GREGORY, Head of Arts, Languages & Cultures, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL. Tel: [44] 0161 306 1242. Email : jeremy.gregory@manchester.ac.uk.
Call for Papers | Political Portraiture in the United States and France
Political Portraiture in the United States and France
during the Revolutionary and Federal Eras, ca. 1776–1814
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 25–26 September 2014
Proposals due by 15 November 2013
Organized by Todd Larkin and Brandon Brame Fortune
Charles Wilson Peale, Washington at the Battle of Princeton (Princeton)
In August 1814 British troops under General Robert Ross sacked Washington, D.C., and burned the Capitol, together with some splendid state portraits of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, the French monarchy’s gift to the American Congress some thirty years earlier. The approaching bicentennial of this event will provide scholars of the United States and France a rare occasion to meet and share expertise on aspects of late eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century portraiture.
The premise of this conference is that in the period between the War of Independence and the War of 1812 the United States maintained a complicated political alliance with France, which had an impact on patterns of cultural representation and consumption on both sides of the Atlantic. The transition from monarchical to republican forms of government was accompanied by a shift from aristocrats to citizens as the primary patrons, subjects, and viewers of portraits. Yet portraits of American and French heads of state, delegates, and families often reveal an uneasy integration of traditional aristocratic forms and new republican values.
The first half of the conference, titled “Dialect[ic]s of Diplomacy,” will treat with single-person portraits (and portrait pairs) that suggest an individual invested with high status, extraordinary power, martial strength, or diplomatic duty on behalf of the nation; the second half of the conference, “Representative Bodies,” will examine group portraits that suggest a shared commitment to collective governance, family harmony, or equitable representation within the nation. How effective were state portraits in promoting the authority of a hereditary monarch, group portraits in promoting the authority of an elected assembly? To what extent did American artists reference or adapt the paintings and prints of French artists, and vice versa? What formal arrangements and symbolic repertories were invented to invest politicians, merchants, and workers with ideals of “patriotism” and “republicanism”?
This line of inquiry is meant to challenge or complicate persistent claims that the United States remained culturally dependent on Great Britain throughout the period, that its portraits reflect a kind of “Anglo-American synthesis.” Although the British flooded North America with royal paintings and celebrity prints in the general expectation that these would encourage fidelity to the Crown and taste for English goods, the French deployed images of sovereigns, ministers, and generals more precisely to seal diplomatic agreements, to celebrate military victories, and to rally public support. Indeed, so appealing were French productions that American artists freely borrowed from them to commemorate the first Presidents of the United States.
There will be six sessions, each lasting approximately two hours and consisting of three to four participants. (more…)
Call for Papers | ASECS 2014 in Williamsburg
Reminder: the due date is 15 September!
2014 American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference
Williamsburg, 20–22 March 2014
Proposals due by 15 September 2013
Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia. The original structure was built between
1710 and 1722, with further additions made in the 1750s. Fire destroyed the
main house in 1781. The present building was constructed in the early 1930s.
Photo by Larry Pieniazek, 2006, from Wikimedia Commons.
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The 2014 ASECS conference takes place in Williamsburg, 20–22 March. Along with our annual luncheon and business meeting, HECAA will be represented by two panels chaired by Denise Baxter and Amy Freund and Jessica Fripp. In addition to these, a wide selection of sessions that might be relevant for HECAA members are also included below. A full list of panels (68 pages’ worth!) is available as a PDF file here.
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Anne Schroder New Scholar’s Session (Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art and Architecture)
Denise Amy Baxter, 1304 Edgewood Court, Carrollton, TX 75007; denise.baxter@unt.edu
Named in honor of the late Anne Schroder, this seminar will feature outstanding new research by emerging scholars.
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Selfhood and Visual Representation in the Eighteenth Century (Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art and Architecture)
Amy Freund, Texas Christian U. and Jessica Fripp, Parsons The New School for Design; a.freund@tcu.edu and frippj@newschool.edu
This panel will consider the relationship between the visual arts and new ideas of selfhood in the eighteenth century. Enlightenment-era debates about the nature of the self had profound effects on how people imagined the individual’s place in society, how gender, age, and racial difference were framed, how science and medicine conceived of the mind and body, and how emotions such as love and friendship were understood and expressed. Some scholars have approached the question of the eighteenth-century self in terms of the rise of possessive individualism, of secularization, and of consumer culture; others have pointed to the persistence and transformation of traditional hierarchies, of collective identities, and of mysticism and the irrational. We are seeking papers that examine the visual representation of the eighteenth-century self, both in portraiture and in other genres and modes, including (but not limited to) genre and history painting, architecture and the decorative arts, dress, and material culture. We encourage proposals that deal with the eighteenth-century self in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and with the transformation (or inapplicability) of Enlightenment ideas outside of Europe.
A larger list of potentially relevant sessions is available here»
Call for Papers | ‘Art History Supplement’ to Address Advertising Images
From Hypotheses.org, the blog of the Art Histories Society and Art History Supplement:
Art History Supplement 3.6 (November 2013) — Advertising Images / Art as Advertisement
Papers due by 15 October 2013
Images with advertising attitude frequently draw forms and figures from artworks. This appropriation is commonly discussed in each case as a reference to the particular work of art being discussed in the image of the advertisement, when it comes to an art history curriculum. The reception of that artwork would be the primary concern of that study. For instance, see John Berger (1972) Ways of Seeing, London: BBC and Penguin Books, chapter seven. The role of advertisement is primarily to communicate a certain message in order to support, in one way or another, the promotion, the sale or the awareness of a particular product. This product may be a commodity; including a person or an idea, for instance. Such a perspective inevitably brings art historians in front of a certain quandary.
When are these advertising images becoming part of a history of art (art history) curriculum on their own status? Could advertising images bridge the gap, if such a gap exists indeed, between history of art and history of images?
On the other hand, according to OED (2nd edition), for instance, an advertisement could be defined as: a) the turning of the mind to anything, b) the action of calling the attention of others; admonition, warning, precept, instruction, c) the action of informing or notifying; information, notification, notice, d) a (written) statement calling attention to anything; a notification, a ‘notice’, e) a public notice or announcement: formerly by the town-crier; now, usually, in writing or print, by placards, or in a journal; spec. a paid announcement in a newspaper or other print.
Yet, Hoepli describes the current meanings of pubblicità as a) L’essere fatto in pubblico, b) azione del far conoscere al pubblico, c) complesso delle varie forme di propaganda aventi lo scopo di far conoscere e di incrementare il consumo e l’uso di un prodotto commerciale, di un servizio, d) mezzo con cui si fa conoscere al pubblico, a scopo commerciale, un determinato prodotto, e) piccola pubblicità, nei giornali, la rubrica degli annunci economici.
While, John Florio (1611) in his Italian – English dictionary annotated the meaning of publicatione as a publication, a proclamation, a manifestation, a making knowen (p.408).
Wouldn’t all these above qualities be able to describe images regarded, for example, as renaissance and/ or early modern art? A) Religious or humanistic art communicating a political or cultural message, B) “preaching” through images, C) the narration or the narrative element of early modern painting, D) the dictum that images can be the Book of the illiterates, E) public devotional or secular commemorative art or the diffusion of engravings. The drawing of such intriguing parallels could be alleged to the role and the use of those art images in those times, based on the theoretical and their rhetorical structures, as patronage and reception studies, built upon the Panofskian model of “cultural” signs.
Papers and short notes are sought to support, or not, the advertising images as a traceable chapter in a history of art survey course; concerning the use of these images, along with any stylistic dimensions these images have. Moreover, submissions are being welcomed to investigate earlier examples of advertisements through renaissance and early modern religious, or not, paintings, portraits, engravings and ephemera. (more…)
Call for Papers | ISECS 2015 in Rotterdam
From the conference website:
ISECS Congress 2015 | Opening Markets: Trade and Commerce in the Age of Enlightenment
Rotterdam, 26–31 July 2015
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The International Congress on the Enlightenment is the largest event in the field, and takes place every four years. Recent meetings have been held in Dublin (1999), Los Angeles (2003), Montpellier (2007) and Graz (2011). The 14th Congress will take place from 26 to 31 July 2015 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Congress facilities will be provided by Erasmus University Rotterdam, with tours and displays on local heritage coordinated by members of the Dutch-Belgian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.
The Congress is organized by the Organizing Committee of Dutch-Belgian Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies and is hosted by the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The Congress is preceded by an ordinary meeting of the ISECS General Assembly. Opening Markets includes theme-related sessions as well as plenary sessions featuring invited speakers. The Congress is organized into parallel sessions and round tables with keynotes elaborating on the subtopics. The Congress facilitates poster presentations. Preceding the Congress the organizers host an ISECS International Seminar for junior Eighteenth-Century scholars.
The scientific program is coordinated by an International Steering Committee made up of members of the Organizing Committee and eminent scholars from scientific institutes and universities in the world. A professional Congress Organizing Office is in charge of the practical aspects concerning the preparation, registration, communication and organization of the Congress, the accomodations for participants and the excursions and (partner)tours during and after the Congress.
The Scientific Steering Committee invites the submission of abstracts for oral and poster presentations at the Congress from January 2014. Abstracts must be submitted online by 31 December 2014. An individual may submit more than one abstract. Abstracts must not exceed 250 words. Presenters must be registered participants at the Congress. Accepted abstracts will be presented at the Congress and published in the Congress proceedings.
Additional information is available at the conference website. Also consult the first announcement of the preliminary programme, available for download as a PDF file here»
Call for Papers | Prime Minister & Patron: Heinrich Count von Brühl
From the Call for Papers posted at the Bibliotheca Hertziana:
Prime Minister and Patron: Heinrich Count von Brühl (1700–1763)
Dresden and Rome, March 2014
Proposals due by 15 October 2013
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After attaining the Polish Crown, the Wettin Elector pursued the expansion of Dresden in order to transform it into a prestigious residence. Dresden evolved in the 18th century as a cultural centre of the Reich with outstanding art collections and a particular concentration of artists, architects, composers and singers.
The Saxon Prime Minister Heinrich Count von Brühl (1700–1763) was a key figure in this development: he has been responsible for the art collections, including the purchase of works of art, as well as the Court Theatre, the Court Opera and of the Meissen porcelain factory. He was also a close advisor of the Elector and King – and thus as “the second man in the state” – responsible for all domestic, foreign and financial matters at the Dresden court. Using the nearly unrestricted freedom of choice associated with this position for his own gain, he also built up a considerable personal fortune, which was made up of capital, farms, factories, works of art and luxury goods. (more…)
Call for Panels | College Art Association 2015, New York
I’m posting this particular call for panel proposals while wearing my hat as vice-president of the Historians of British Art. The announcement also serves as a general reminder, however, that all session ideas (in addition to those from affiliates) are due to CAA by 3 September 2013. HBA’s internal due date is Monday, 26 August. -CH
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HBA Session Proposals for the 2015 College Art Association Conference
New York, 11–14 February 2015
Proposals due by 26 August 2013
The Historians of British Art, an affiliate society of the College Art Association, welcomes proposals from members for its main session at the annual CAA conference in 2015 (February 11–14). Ideally, the session will accommodate a range of interests and multiple periods within the larger field of British art. Once HBA’s selection committee decides on a proposal, the individual(s) proposing the topic will need to follow the regular CAA procedures for panel submissions. Feel free to contact Craig Hanson with any questions, CraigAshleyHanson@gmail.com.
Call for Papers | Symbolic Visual Cultures of Jacobitism, 1688–1800
From Fairfax House:
Symbolic Visual Cultures of Jacobitism, 1688–1800
Fairfax House and The Hilton Hotel, York, 15 November 2013
Proposals due by 30 September 2013
Jacobitism remains among the most evocative of British historical movements, associated with powerful currents of romanticism and nostalgia. It owes this place in the historical imagination not least to the richness of the symbolism to which this essentially covert political movement gave rise. The symbols of Jacobitism – the rose and rosebud, white ribbons and cockades, the butterfly, the sunflower, oak trees and oak leaves – have great historical and emotional significance and act as a potent focus of sentiment.
The symbolic language of the Jacobite cause is at the heart of the most significant public display of Jacobite material culture to take place for many years: the exhibition In the Name of the Rose: The Jacobite Rebellions, Symbolism & Allegiance, to be held at Fairfax House between August and December 2013. In association with this exhibition, Fairfax House will be hosting a one-day colloquium exploring the symbolic cultures of Jacobitism on Friday November 15, 2013.
The aim of this colloquium is to bring together interested parties from academic institutions, museums, libraries and other backgrounds who share an interest in the symbols associated with the Jacobite movement from its origins in the late seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. Relevant topics may include (but would certainly not be limited to) the culture of Jacobite objects and images; the iconography of Jacobite symbols and emblems; the role of specific categories of material culture such as jewellery, glassware, clothing, architecture or weaponry in conveying Jacobite messages, either overt or covert; Jacobite symbols in art, music or literature. Established authorities on Jacobitism will be participating in the colloquium.
This full-day colloquium will be followed by a special guest lecture by Prof. Murray Pittock and launch of his new book at an evening reception at Fairfax House including the opportunity to see the exhibition, In the Name of the Rose.
Contributions are invited from scholars, graduate students, museum and library professionals and others, for papers not to exceed 20 minutes in length that explore any topic relevant to the field of Jacobite visual symbolism from the late seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. Please submit proposals for papers (synopsis not to exceed 200 words) to: jacobitecolloquium@fairfaxhouse.co.uk
Call for Papers | HBA Young Scholar Session at CAA, 2014
Historians of British Art Young Scholar Session
College Art Association, Chicago, 12–15 February 2014
Proposals due by 15 August 2013
The Historians of British Art, a CAA-affiliated society, seeks papers for an upcoming mini-session of work by emerging scholars to be held during the HBA Business Meeting at CAA in Chicago (February 12–15, 2014). Current or recent graduate students are invited to submit proposals (if a Ph.D. recipient, the degree must have been earned within the past three years). Papers may address any topic related to British art, architecture, and visual culture and should be limited to fifteen minutes. This is an opportunity for informal presentations of new or ongoing research followed by open discussion.
To submit a paper for consideration, please send the following items to Jongwoo Jeremy Kim, HBA 2nd Vice President, at jongwoo.kim@louisville.edu: (1) a one page abstract; (2) a C.V. (limited to two pages).; and (3) a brief cover letter explaining interest in the field. The deadline for submission is August 15, 2013. Upon selection, each presenter will be requested to join HBA if not already a member.
Call for Papers | Museum Metaphors
From the conference website:
Museum Metaphors
University of Nottingham, 20 November 2013
Proposals due by 9 September 2013
Organised by Lucy Bradnock and Briley Rasmussen
Throughout the relatively short history of the art museum, metaphorical constructs have often been used to explain the museum’s social and cultural role, as well as to define its various protagonists. Through the metaphorical language of the museum as, for example, temple (Duncan), tomb (Adorno), laboratory (Barr), or supermarket (Warhol), artists, curators, critics, philosophers and historians have sought to read the institution of the museum as symbolic of particular cultural and social ideologies.
Against the backdrop of a growing current interest in institutional and exhibition histories, this symposium will consider the many metaphors that have been used to describe, define and theorise museums. We will also address how changes in the metaphorical language of the museum might indicate broader discursive shifts. In addition, it will ask what metaphorical constructs shape our conception of museums today. We seek proposals that address examples of museum metaphors from a range of historical, geographic, and theoretical perspective. Topics might include, but are not limited to:
• The museum metaphor in museological discourse
• The museum as metaphor in artistic practice
• Metaphor, behaviour and the museum’s publics
• Museum metaphor, modernism and postmodernism
• Metaphor and museum architecture and/or design
• Social and spatial metaphors in the museum context
• Museum metaphors in film, literature and popular culture
Please submit proposals of up to 250 words to Lucy Bradnock (lucy.bradnock@nottingham.ac.uk).
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