A year from now (midday Tuesday 28th, to midday Thursday 30th July, 2015), Bangor will again host its biennial international conference on the Restoration. This brings together anyone interested in the period 1660-1714 in Britain and Ireland, from any discipline, for stimulating discussion and fine hospitality among the Welsh mountains. The theme this time will be Britain, Ireland and the overseas world; and our plenary talks will be as follows:
Toby Barnard (Oxford, UK): Senses of belonging and difference in Britain and Ireland, c.1660-1720
Jeremy Gregory (Manchester, UK): The late Stuart church and British North America
Jane Ohlmeyer (Trinity, Dublin, IRE): Eastward enterprises: colonial Ireland and colonial India
Nigel Smith (Princeton, US): Prophecy, tragedy and the state in the Three Kingdoms, the United Provinces, the German principalities and France, 1660-1700.
Helen Wilcox (Bangor, UK): ‘To spin a garment of memory’: Margaret Cavendish, writing and exile
To add to these lectures, we invite suggestions for panel papers on the theme; or even better, for fully formed panels of 2-3 speakers (all papers should be 18-20 minutes long – suggestions for informal round tables are also encouraged). In proposals, it is of course likely that relations and interconnections with continental Europe and the American colonies will figure prominently, but consideration of other regions would also be very welcome. Topics might include (but are certainly not limited to) the ways in which Stuart subjects depicted and understood their own culture, government, and religion within European or world context; the impact of travel and exile; representations of places abroad in Britain and / or Ireland; the adoption or rejection of foreign literary, artistic and cultural styles – or of religious, scientific, and political ideas; xenophobias and prejudices; the construction of foreign utopias or ‘others’; contacts through education, the republic of letters, confessional solidarity, trade and military service; and international geopolitics and its depiction in domestic discourse. Contributions covering reactions to Britain and Ireland overseas will also be considered if they cast significant light on the history and culture of the Stuart realms.
To suggest a paper or a panel, or to ask any questions about the conference, please contact one of the convenors: Professor Tony Claydon (t.claydon@bangor.ac.uk) or Professor Tom Corns (t.n.corns@bangor.ac.uk). We look forward to welcoming you to Bangor.