WS: ‘Translating English republicanism in the European Enlightenment’

22 June 2023, Newcastle University, Armstrong Building ARMB 1.06 This workshop addresses the significance of translation for the dissemination of English republican ideas in the European Enlightenment. The contribution of English republican ideas by thinkers such as John Milton, Marchamont Nedham, James Harrington, Edmund Ludlow and Algernon Sidney to the European Enlightenment has been a… Continue reading WS: ‘Translating English republicanism in the European Enlightenment’

Are Zoom conferences making academia more exclusive?

The fashion for Zoom meetings in academia might have started out of necessity during the coronavirus pandemic, but the little video tiles on our laptop screens are likely here to stay. Generally, I am all in favour of it. Zoom has made my life a lot easier and saved many an unnecessary journey. I have… Continue reading Are Zoom conferences making academia more exclusive?

Workshop: ‘Ideas and translation in early modern Europe’, Newcastle, 22 April

As part of my Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship I am organising my first little workshop at Newcastle University to bring together historians and literary scholars with cognate interests in the area of translation and ideas transfer. It is intended as a rather informal gathering to discuss ideas without pressure – just for the sake of discussing… Continue reading Workshop: ‘Ideas and translation in early modern Europe’, Newcastle, 22 April

A small workshop shows why I like the EU and Brexit is a bad idea

I have just returned from our annual workshop on Translating Cultures at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel (HAB, Germany) which is always a great opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues while discussing the significance of translation for the dissemination of ideas in early modern Europe. The spread of papers was amazing –… Continue reading A small workshop shows why I like the EU and Brexit is a bad idea

Crisis and Renewal with Aristotle and Machiavelli

I’m just on the train back from the ESHPT conference on ‘Crisis and Renewal in the History of Political Thought’ in Heidelberg and, as so often happens after an event like this, I’m both completely exhausted but also in good spirits and keen to get back to my research full of new ideas. I also notice… Continue reading Crisis and Renewal with Aristotle and Machiavelli

Translating Cultures in Early Modern Europe – What’s Next?

Sometimes a workshop is only a workshop, and sometimes it is the beginning of a whole new project. With the recent Translating Cultures event held at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, Germany on 26 and 27 June, my co-convernor Thomas Munck and I soon had the feeling it could be the latter. We got… Continue reading Translating Cultures in Early Modern Europe – What’s Next?

Early Modern Political Thought and Twenty-First-Century Politics

I love Newcastle and the Lit&Phil, and this workshop on Early Modern Political Thought and Twenty-First-Century Politics in mid-May was probably one of the most fun public history events I have yet participated in. Rachel Hammersley managed to get together a panel of early modern historians who all had something to say about how the… Continue reading Early Modern Political Thought and Twenty-First-Century Politics

Translating Cultures – Workshop at the Duke August Library, 26/27 June

If you are an early modernist interested in translation, print and the book trade in Europe and you can make it to Wolfenbüttel this summer, drop in on our workshop on 26 and 27 June. We are gathering at the excellent Duke August Library (HAB) once in the charge of the Enlightenment philosopher Gotthold Ephraim… Continue reading Translating Cultures – Workshop at the Duke August Library, 26/27 June

Political Thought in Times of Crisis, 1640-1660 – Symposium, 1-3 Dec

Sponsored by the Folger Institute Center for the History of British Political Thought, Washington, US. Was the mid-seventeenth-century crisis in Britain and Ireland essentially one aspect of a broader “global” crisis? How might scholars theorize the relationships between political thought and other verbal and non-verbal expressions of change and instability (political, economic, social, cultural, and… Continue reading Political Thought in Times of Crisis, 1640-1660 – Symposium, 1-3 Dec

CfP: Urban Ritual and Ceremony in Pre-Modern Europe, c.1300-c.1700

A one-day conference to take place at Northumbria University on 29 May 2014. Recent years have witnessed a proliferation in the study of ritual and ceremony in pre-modern European towns. Once considered a topic of only marginal interest, the study of late medieval and early modern ritual and ceremonial practices now lies at the forefront… Continue reading CfP: Urban Ritual and Ceremony in Pre-Modern Europe, c.1300-c.1700