Received from Miranda Reading (King’s College, London)

This one-day conference on 26th April 2019 at UCL, will bring together postgraduate, early career and established historians to map out the current and future directions of eighteenth-century British history. The conference marks the 30th anniversary of the British History in the Long Eighteenth Century Seminar, and celebrates its work in providing an important forum for debate on all aspects of research into the history of eighteenth-century Britain, across thematic and methodological boundaries.

The study of Britain in the long eighteenth century is a dynamic and rapidly expanding research area, with almost 30,000 books and articles published on the subject between 2007 and 2018, up 8% on the previous decade. Subjects experiencing the most marked growth include the senses and emotions, the body, consumption, gender, and imperial history. All of these themes, and others, will be addressed in roundtables and panel discussions at the conference, to create a dialogue about the current state of the field, generate new research questions, and map out the field’s future trajectory.

Speakers include Professor Joanna Innes (Somerville, Oxford), Professor Tim Hitchcock (University of Sussex), Professor Penelope Corfield (Royal Hollaway/Newcastle University), Professor Carl Griffin (University of Sussex) and Professor Matthew McCormack (University of Northampton).

Eighteenth Century Now Conference Poster, the organisers (2019)

We will be live-tweeting the conference using the hashtag #18thCNow. Current PhD students studying eighteenth-century Britain will be showcasing posters of their research. As eighteenth-century studies booms worldwide, the conference represents an exciting and highly topical opportunity to draw the threads together, debate where the field has got to, and where it is going.

With the generous help of our sponsors, this conference is free to attend and includes lunch. Travel Bursaries are available for PGR/ECR students. To apply for a travel bursary, please email 18thCNow@gmail.com stating your institution, your travel plans and why attending the conference would help you with your work.

As there are a limited number of tickets, early booking is essential. Tickets are available here.

This conference is kindly supported by Past & Present Society, King’s College London, University College London, the Royal Historical Society, Oxford Brookes University and the IHR.

Past & Present is pleased to support this event and 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.