by Dr. Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah (University of Groningen) From April 6-8 2025, the historic halls of the University of Warsaw became the vibrant meeting ground for sixteen scholars from across Europe converging to rethink and reframe Jewish histories through a Mediterranean lens. The workshop, titled Jewish Dis/Connections across and beyond the Modern Mediterranean, offered more than a gathering of minds—it was an invitation to rethink boundaries, identities, and narratives that have long defined Jewish studies in Europe. Why the Mediterranean, Why Now? Traditionally, European Jewish history has centered on communities in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe. Southern Europe and the Mediterranean have often been either marginalized or treated as outliers in scholarly discourse. This workshop sought to flip that script. Guided by the organizing team—Dr. Magdalena Kozłowska (University of Warsaw), Dr. Noëmie Duhaut (University of Southampton), and Dr. Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah (University of Groningen)—the event proposed an integrative approach to Jewish history. It focused on mobility, not just of people, but of ideas, objects, languages, and institutions. As modern historians turn increasingly toward transnational and transimperial perspectives, this gathering highlighted how Jewish lives in and around the Mediterranean challenge established categories and regional divides. A Crossroads of Scholarship Over three days, participants […]

received from the event organisers We are pleased to announce that the Work, Authenticity, and Social Identity in Early Modern Britain (c.1500-1750) Conference, supported by the Warwick Early Modern and Eighteenth Century Centre, the Doctoral Training Partnership AHRC-Midlands4Cities, the Society for the Study of Labour History, the Social History Society, and the Past & Present Society, will take place in the Scarman Conference Centre at the University of Warwick on 10-11 June 2025. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Professor Steve Hindle (Washington University in St Louis), Professor Jane Whittle (University of Exeter), and jointly by Dr Mark Hailwood (University of Bristol) & Dr Brodie Waddell (Birkbeck, University of London). Over the past several decades, scholars of British social and cultural history have fundamentally reshaped our understanding of early modern labour, social identity, and the self, demonstrating the analytical power of incorporating interdisciplinary approaches into their analyses alongside a diverse range of sources, from ballads to legal records. This conference seeks to develop this important body of work, inviting fresh perspectives on themes that have proven foundational to the study of early modern British social and cultural history. Non-elite early modern people spent a large portion of their lives ‘at work’, and their labouring experiences were often a central component of their identities and mental universes. We are interested in further […]

received from Dr. Michelle Pfeffer (Magdalen College, University of Oxford) Dates: 11-12 July 2025 Location: Seminar Room, Radcliffe Humanities Building, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG Programme Registration Overview – Conference Theme and Goals Historians have studied extensively how sciences begin—but how do they end? This is a crucial question for understanding how the labour of knowledge-making evolves. Previous attention to the founding, disciplining, and professionalisation of individual sciences has provided robust frameworks for thinking through the birth and growth of knowledge-making communities. Far less attention has been directed toward how those same communities decay, dissipate, or evolve beyond the contemporary boundaries of science. This conference seeks to cultivate case studies of the ends of sciences, and thereby to motivate a new approach to thinking about the developmental trajectories of scientific disciplines, communities, institutions, and the ordering of expert knowledge. A further aim is to strengthen the community of scholars with a shared interest in studying the ends of sciences. A small lunch will be provided on both days of the conference. If you have any dietary requirements, please email Michelle at michelle.pfeffer@history.ox.ac.uk. We hope to arrange a conference dinner for Friday 11 July following the keynote lecture. […]

by Dr. Robert Yee (Wadham College, University of Oxford) The University of Oxford convened a two-day conference on the history of political economy, capitalism, and global governance between 7 and 8 April 2025. Co-organised by Patricia Clavin, Aled Davies, and Robert Yee, the conference brought together 15 speakers for a discussion on the future of the field. In recent years, scholars have assessed the history of global economic governance from multiple perspectives. They have focused on the rise of development initiatives, the impact of wars on the global order, and the tensions between national interests and international cooperation. Together, these works have broadened our understanding of the evolving role of individuals, ideas, and institutions in shaping the world economy. Our conference reflected on these topics and suggested new directions for the field. We were particularly interested in examining the ways in which the idea of the world economy has been contested, debated, governed and restructured during moments of crisis and change. We also explored the time and temporality of crises, considering the various speeds at which different types of crises, from financial to environmental, proliferated. The conference consisted of five panels, each with three presentations. Our first panel focused on […]

received from Mariana Bodnaruk (Masaryk University, Brno), Stephan Bruhn (German Historical Institute, London) and Michael Eber (University of Oxford) Dates: 22 – 23 May 2025 Venue: German Historical Institute, London/online via the Zoom platform Overview Trans saints – monachoparthenoi, saints who are initially described as female by their hagiographers, but transition to a male (often monastic) identity – are present in every late antique and medieval Christian tradition. The textual and artistic renderings of these figures offer a comparative key to conceptualizing trans bodies and trans souls across geographical and chronological boundaries. Binary cis-heteronormativity has long been portrayed as unchanging and unchangeable, as outside of the scope of history. This is a central plank in the playbook followed by transphobes worldwide, in the ever-escalating “culture war” against trans and queer people. Highlighting both the ubiquity and multivalence of premodern trans monks, and connecting across disciplinary divides to do so, is urgent work, not least because it provides a necessary counterpoint to such historically inaccurate rhetoric. Following the insights of the “performative turn” in queer and trans studies that underscores the enactment and negotiation of gender identity through lived experiences, social practices, and narratives, we welcome explorations of gender and sexuality […]

by the Past & Present editorial team Subscribe to Past and Present’s new e-newsletter –  the Past and Present Society has set-up a free e-newsletter using the Substack platform as a hosting medium. From May 2025 this will be published quarterly in line with the journal’s publishing schedule. The newsletter will include a round-up of recent publications including articles, supplements and virtual issues. As well as news from the Society especially regarding initiatives we fund like scholarships, postdoctoral fellowships and conferences. You may subscribe to the Past and Present e-newsletter here. We would be grateful if you could share news of the newsletter’s launch with potentially interested colleagues, students, and anybody else who may be interested in receiving the quarterly communication, especially those who do not maintain a social media presence. The Society will continue to share articles from the journals, news, opportunities and other updates via its feed on the Bluesky social media platform.

received from Dr. Robin Eagles (The History of Parliament) and Dr. Chris Monaghan (University of Worcester) Dates: 3 – 4 July 2025 Location: University of Worcester School of Law, Jenny Lind Building, Farrier St, Worcester, WR1 3BZ Event Overview A conference jointly hosted by: The Constitutions, Rights and Justice Research Group, University of Worcester and The History of Parliament Trust, Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th July 2025. The trial of Warren Hastings was one of the seminal moments in late 18th-century politics. The former governor general of Bengal, Hastings, was accused of a variety of crimes relating to abuse of the local population and peculation. Attitudes to him varied widely, with him attracting high profile supporters, while the case against him was driven forward by stars of the Whig party, such as Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox. In raw political terms it helped precipitate the collapse of any sense of unity within the former governing Whigs and helped William Pitt the Younger cement his hold on power. Quite as importantly, the trial is vital in understanding how British society viewed the government of colonial India and how Indian society responded to the process of colonization. The trial is crucial […]

Received from Dr. Michelle Moffat (Manchester Metropolitan University) Dates: 30 – 31 May 2025 Location: Manchester Metropolitan University (All Saints Campus) Provisional Programme Event Overview As we approach the 80th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War, we turn to consider the lives of those who fought on the frontlines of this, and similar, conflicts. For military veterans, while the battles in which they fought may have finished, their legacies linger long after demobilisation. The Returning Soldier Network invites you to attend our upcoming conference examining military veterans’ experiences in the post-service landscape. This two day, in-person event will be held at MMU’s campus on Oxford Road, Manchester, and aims to explore the aftermaths of conflict, and its effects on veteran lives, wellbeing, and identities. Keynote speakers: Professor Simon Wessely (King’s Centre for Military Health Research) will share his research in occupational psychiatry and its links to the health and wellbeing of ex-serving personnel. Second keynote, Professor Angela Wanhalla (University of Otago, New Zealand), will speak of her studies into the post-war activism of veterans of New Zealand’s celebrated 28(Māori) Battalion. Conference dinner: A three-course meal will be held at the Hyatt Regency Manchester from 6:15pm on Friday 30 […]

Received from Dr. Robert Yee (Wadham College, University of Oxford) Event Overview Conference taking place 7-8 April 2025, St. John’s College, University of Oxford. Since the financial crisis of 2007/08, international rivalries, nationalist movements, a global pandemic, and the existential threat of climate change have destabilised the global economic order. From an historical perspective, such strains have many precedents in the tumultuous twentieth century. We seek to bring together scholars for a two-day conference at the University of Oxford to explore the history of global economic governance. We are particularly keen to discuss how national governments, international organisations, businesses, financial institutions and workers all responded to shocks and instability, and how these responses shaped the global economic order. Many recent historical works have explored the history of political economy, capitalism and global governance from multiple perspectives. There has been important historical research into the effects of wars and conflicts on the global economic order; the birth of global economic development initiatives; the ideological foundations of neoliberalism; and the hegemony of economic growth. Together, these works raise an array of important questions: What economic, political and social factors underpinned the evolution of national and global economic governance in the twentieth century? […]

Received from Maisie Brenchley (University of York) Event Overview Join us on April 24th at the University of York’s Berrick Saul Building in Heslington North Yorkshire for Margins to Centre 2025! This in-person conference explores Belonging, celebrating the literature, art, and histories of marginalised communities. Engage in vital discussions on identity, inclusion, and the diverse narratives shaping our world. Our conference features a diverse lineup of esteemed speakers exploring key themes, including colonialism and the construction of the ‘other,’ gender and identity through historical perspectives, marginalisation and power dynamics, exclusion and resistance, and the reassessment of marginalised and underutilised sources. This event is open to all—join us for engaging discussions with our panels. Tea and coffee will be provided. We look forward to seeing you! For inquiries or more information, please email us at marginstocentre2025@gmail.com or message us on Instagram @marginstocentre. We’re happy to help! You can also visit the event’s website Registration (free) Past & Present is pleased to support this event and supports other events like it. Applications for event funding are welcomed from scholars working in the field of historical studies at all stages in their careers.