CALL FOR PAPERS: ‘On Belonging: English Conceptions of Migration and Transculturality, 1550 – 1700’,


TIDE Conference, 26 - 28 July 2018
London Campus, University of Liverpool, 33 Finsbury Square EC2A 1AG

How did early modern processes of global exchange influence English identity? How did the movement of peoples, objects, and ideas across the globe shape English concepts of self and belonging, both at home and abroad?

Join the ERC-funded ‘Travel, Transculturality, and Identity in England, 1550 – 1700’ (TIDE) project to explore these questions through a three-day interdisciplinary conference in summer 2018.

Confirmed Speakers: Raingard Esser, Katy Gibbons, Imtiaz Habib, Claire Jowitt, Beverley Lemire, Gerald MacLean, Angela McShane, Sarah Knight, Barbara Ravelhofer, Edmond Smith

We invite proposals for papers that examine human mobility both into and out of England, and that cover topics from the Tudor and Stuart periods, including (but not limited to) the following:
  • Legal and political processes of defining and regulating national identity and the rights of strangers, aliens, and foreigners, as well as of natural-born English men and women
  • The various forms of forced and voluntary global movement
  • Local and global migration patterns
  • Travellers, diplomacy, and trade
  • Migrant case studies: individual go-betweens and transcultural agents
  • The effect of mobility on English taste and consumption (from music to the arts, dietary habits to vices)
  • The role of non-English objects on English social rituals and ways of life
  • Representations of English encounters with other peoples in literary forms and imaginative discourse

We welcome interventions from a variety of approaches, methodologies, and disciplines. Please send abstracts of up to 300 words and a short biographical note including institutional affiliation (250 words) to tide@liverpool.ac.uk by 15 February 2018 for contributions in any of the following formats:
  • Traditional 20-minute papers
  • Complete panels of 3 x 20 minute or 4 x 15-minute papers
  • Roundtable discussions
  • ‘Exploration sessions’ that focus on particular research questions, provocations, or relevant ‘state-of-the-field’ discussions.

Proposals for complete panels and roundtables should have contact details of all confirmed participants.

Coordinators of exploration sessions will be expected to offer a brief introduction to their questions and methods before inviting a broader discussion with other attendees. These informal and flexible sessions will encourage helpful scholarly discussion and input for researchers (doctoral and early career, as well as more established scholars), particularly those embarking on new projects.

Conference participants will be able to sign up for exploration sessions on a first-come, first-served basis at the time of registration.

Conference fee: £80
Subsidised fee for students: £40
Conference Reception: £20

We will offer a small number of conference bursaries, which include a fee waiver and £50 travel grant for student delegates presenting a paper or organising an ‘exploration session’. Please include a separate 1-page CV and a 300-word statement in addition to your abstract if you wish to be considered for these bursaries.

Tide Project