Call for Papers for the 68th Annual Midwest Conference On British Studies

The Midwest Conference on British Studies is proud to announce that its 68th Annual Meeting will be online via Zoom, October 15-16, 2021. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Sara Butler, Professor and King George III Chair of British History at the Ohio State University.

The MWCBS seeks papers from scholars in all fields of British Studies, broadly defined to include those who study England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Britain’s Empire and the Commonwealth from Roman Britain to the modern age. We welcome scholars from a broad spectrum of disciplines, including but not limited to history, literature, political science, gender studies, art and music history. We welcome scholars at all stages of their careers, from graduate students to emeriti, as well as independent scholars, people working in associated careers, and more traditional academics. We accept full panel proposals and individual proposals equally. The MWCBS encourages scholars to use H-Albion to find additional panelists. Our organization can also help find chairs, commentators, and additional panelists, if needed.

The MWCBS welcomes individual proposals and proposals for panels (of three participants plus chair/commentator), roundtables (of four participants plus chair), poster sessions, and panels featuring the pre-circulation of papers among participants and audience members.

The MWCBS welcomes proposals that:

• Examine new trends in British Studies
• Explore new developments in digital humanities, pedagogies, and/or research methodologies
• Present professional development sessions on collaborative or innovative learning techniques in the British Studies classroom or on topics of research, publication, public outreach, or employment relevant to British Studies scholars
• Offer comparative analyses of different periods of British Studies, such as comparing medieval and early modern issues in context
• Situate the arts, letters, and sciences in a British cultural context
• Present new research on the political, social, cultural, and economic history of the British Isles
• Examine representations of British and imperial/Commonwealth national identities, including the construction of identities shaped by race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and dis/ability
• Consider Anglo-American relations, past and present
• Assess a major work or body of work by a scholar

The MWCBS welcomes presentations by advanced graduate students and will award the Walter L. Arnstein Prize for the best graduate student paper(s) given at the conference. A limited number of Jim Sack Travel Awards will also be available, and all graduate students are encouraged to apply. Further details will be available on the MWCBS website: https://mwcbs.edublogs.org/

Proposal Requirements and Deadline:

• Include a 200-word abstract for each paper and a 1-page c.v. for each participant, including chairs and commentators.
• For full panels, also include a 200-word abstract for the panel as a whole.
• Please place the panel abstract, accompanying paper proposals, and vitas in one Word or PDF file and submit it as a single attachment. Also identify, within the e-mail, the panel’s contact person.
• All proposals should be submitted electronically by April 23, to the Program Committee Chair, David Pennington at dpennington41@webster.edu.

Program Committee: Celeste Chamberland, Roosevelt University; Jules Gehrke, Saginaw Valley State University; Mary McCain, DePaul University; David Pennington, Chair, Webster University; Valerie Schutte, independent scholar; Emily Wicktor, North Dakota State University.

Visit the MWCBS website at https://mwcbs.edublogs.org/

NACBS Emergency Grants

In November the NACBS announced a new funding program intended to assist scholars in British Studies who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The NACBS has established $500 emergency grants that can be used to cover unexpected loss of income related to this crisis.

Eligibility: Un/underemployed British Studies scholars located in North America, including advanced graduate students and recent PhDs, who have demonstrated financial need and who do not currently have full-time/salaried employment. Those who are fully supported by a graduate program, postdoc, or full-time temporary or tenure-track position are not eligible. Applicants must have been a member of the NACBS within the last three years.

Application process:
• Applicants should submit a cover letter and CV to execsecretary@nacbs.org . They need not include a detailed budget, but they should explain their financial need in broad terms and indicate how the funding would help stabilize their circumstances or help them achieve their professional goals. Applicants should also request that their advisor, department chair, or other supervisor send to the same email address a brief letter verifying their current standing, as soon as possible after the application is submitted. Please include your PayPal email address (for payment via PayPal) or your mailing address (for payment via check).
• Awards will be made on a rolling basis, until the allocated funds are expended.

2019 MWCBS Hotel and Registration Information: Chicago, September 27-29, 2019

MWCBS Conference Hotel:

Hampton Inn Chicago North-Loyola Station

1209 W Albion Ave

Chicago, IL 60626

The room rate is $179 per night. You can use this link to make your reservations http://group.hamptoninn.com/midwestconfonbritishstudies26sep. The hotel may also be booked using the Hampton Inn central reservations service at 1-800-426-7866. Please be sure to mention that you are attending MWCBS and request the discounted rate by mentioning our room block “MWCBS 2019” or the group code “MWC”.

Travel to Hotel from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) or Chicago Midway (MDW):

Directions from the Hotel Staff

From O’Hare Airport: Take I-90 East 2.7 miles to Exit 82A Nagle. Take 1st left onto Nagle Ave and go 1.05 miles. Take a right onto Devon Ave and go 4.02 miles. Turn left onto N. Kedzie Ave and go for 0.50 miles to Pratt Blvd and take a right. Take Pratt for 2.35 miles to Lakewood Ave and take a right for 0.18 miles and then take a slight left onto Albion Ave and go 0.14 miles. The hotel is 1209 W. Albion Ave.

From Midway Airport: Take Cicero Ave North 4 miles to I-55 North for 7.6 miles to S Lake Shore Dr. Stay on N Lake Shore Dr for 9.83 miles. Take the Sheridan Road exit and travel 1.06 miles. Turn slight right to stay on N Sheridan Rd. and take a left onto W Arthur Ave for 0.14 miles. Take the first right onto N Lakewood Ave and the second right onto W Albion Ave.

Attendees may also utilize the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) elevated (the “L”) and subway lines to reach the hotel from either O’Hare or Midway. To reach the hotel from O’Hare please take the CTA Blue Line from the O’Hare station to the Blue Line Washington station and transfer to the Red Line Lake station. Take the Red Line north (towards Howard) until you reach Loyola station—the hotel is a 2-minute walk north on Sheridan Road.

To reach the hotel from Midway please take the CTA Orange Line from the Midway station to the Roosevelt station. Transfer from the Orange Line to the Red Line at Roosevelt and take the Red Line north (towards Howard) until you reach Loyola station—the hotel is a 2-minute walk north on Sheridan Road.

Additionally, taxi, Uber, and Lyft rides may be arranged to/from the airport with pickups at baggage claim and drop-offs curbside at the terminal. For those who wish to rent a car there are also a large number of rental car options available at either O’Hare or Midway. For a handy guide of these transport options with phone numbers, please see the O’Hare ground transportation page at https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/tofrom/pages/default.aspx or the Midway ground transportation page at https://www.flychicago.com/midway/tofrom/pages/default.aspx.

Registration:

Please use the following link to register for the conference. Your registration includes the Friday evening reception and plenary talk.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/mwcbs-2019-tickets-66596609251?utm_term=eventurl_text

The rates this year are the following:

  • Early Registration (through August 31): $140.00
  • Late Registration (beginning September 1): $170.00
  • Early Registration Graduate Students (through August 31): $100.00
  • Late Registration Graduate Students (beginning September 1): $120.00
  • Saturday Luncheon and Keynote Address: $30. A vegetarian lunch option will be available.

Please note: All panelists must register for the conference by Friday, September 27, 2019. Participants will be able to pick up conference materials beginning on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 26th at the Hampton Inn Chicago North-Loyola Station. Sessions begin Friday afternoon at 1:30pm with the conference materials available again available starting at 12:00pm.

Student Travel Grants: The registration process will also allow you to donate to the MWCBS Jim Sack Student Travel Grant fund, which helps subsidize costs to the annual conference for the youngest members of our organization, who find it increasingly difficult in these times of shrinking university budgets to secure conference funding. The MWCBS relies on member contributions to fund the grants, and the donations we receive will determine the number of awards we are able to give out. Donations are tax deductible since the MWCBS is an official 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

The Travel Grant Application will be distributed by the Program Chair via email to all eligible participants and the application deadline is September 6, 2019.

Programming:

Friday Reception and Keynote Address: On Friday, September 27th, there will be an early evening reception and keynote address beginning at 5:00 pm. The keynote, titled “Dreaming of Death and the Dead in the Stuart Political World Imaginary: the Case of William Laud” will be presented by Dr. Carole Levin of the University Nebraska—Lincoln.

Saturday Luncheon and Plenary Address: On Saturday, September 28th, there will be a luncheon at noon and the Arnstein graduate student award and plenary address beginning at 12:45 pm. The plenary, titled “Unsettled: Citizens, Migrants, and Refugees” will be presented by Jordanna Bailkin of the University of Washington.

*****

For program related questions, please contact:

Dr. John Krenzke

Program Committee Chairperson, MWCBS

Associate Professor of History

Tidewater Community College

jkrenzke@tcc.edu

For all other conference related questions, please contact:

Dr. Lisa Z. Sigel

President, MWCBS

Professor, Department of History

DePaul University

lsigel@depaul.edu

MWCBS Hotel Booking Link

MWCBS is pleased to announce that reservations for the Hampton Inn Chicago North–Loyola Station may be made for September 27-29, 2019 MWCBS conference at the attendee rate of $179/night by following this link:

http://group.hamptoninn.com/midwestconfonbritishstudies26sep

The hotel may also be booked using the Hampton Inn central reservations service at 1-800-426-7866. Please be sure to mention that you are attending MWCBS and request the discounted rate by mentioning our room block “MWCBS 2019” or the group code “MWC”.

MWCBS Call for Papers Extension to May 20, 2019

The Midwest Conference on British Studies is happy to announce an extension for the Call for Papers for its 66th Annual Meeting to May 20, 2019. The meeting will be hosted by Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, IL, September 27-29, 2019. The keynote speaker will be Carole Levin of the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, and the plenary address will be given by Jordanna Bailkin of the University of Washington.

The MWCBS seeks papers from scholars in all fields of British Studies, broadly defined to include those who study England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Britain’s Empire and the Commonwealth from Roman Britain to the modern age. We welcome scholars from a broad spectrum of disciplines, including but not limited to history, literature, political science, gender studies, art and music history. Proposals for complete sessions are preferred, although proposals for individual papers will also be welcome. The MWCBS encourages scholars to use H-Albion to find additional panelists. Our organization can also help find chairs, commentators, and additional panelists, if needed.

We welcome individual proposals and proposals for panels (of three participants plus chair/commentator), roundtables (of four participants plus chair), poster sessions, and panels featuring the pre-circulation of papers among participants and audience members.

We welcome proposals that:

  • offer comparative analyses of different periods of British Studies, such as comparing medieval and early modern issues in context
  • situate the arts, letters, and sciences in a British cultural context
  • present new research on the political, social, cultural, and economic history of the British Isles
  • examine representations of British and imperial/Commonwealth national identities, including the construction of identities shaped by race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and dis/ability
  • consider Anglo-American relations, past and present
  • examine new trends in British Studies
  • assess a major work or body of work by a scholar
  • explore new developments in digital humanities, pedagogies, and/or research methodologies
  • present professional development sessions on collaborative or innovative learning techniques in the British Studies classroom or on topics of research, publication, public outreach, or employment relevant to British Studies scholars.

We welcome presentations by advanced graduate students and will award the Walter L. Arnstein Prize for the best graduate student paper(s) given at the conference. A limited number of Jim Sack Travel Awards will also be available, and all graduate students are encouraged to apply. Further details will be available on the MWCBS website: https://mwcbs.edublogs.org/

Proposal Requirements and Deadline:

  • Include a 200-word abstract for each paper and a 1-page c.v. for each participant, including chairs and commentators.
  • For full panels, also include a 200-word abstract for the panel as a whole.
  • Please place the panel abstract, accompanying paper proposals, and vitas in one Word or PDF file and submit it as a single attachment. Also identify, within the e-mail, the panel’s contact person.
  • All proposals should be submitted electronically by May 20, 2019, to the Program Committee Chair, John Krenzke at jkrenzke@tcc.edu.

Program Committee: Steven Catania, the University of Wisconsin; Jules Gehrke, Saginaw Valley State University; Patrick Kirkwood, Metropolitan Community College; John Krenzke, Chair, Tidewater Community College; Bonnie McLean, the College of DuPage; Rebecca Nesvet, the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay; David Pennington, Webster University.

Visit the MWCBS website at https://mwcbs.edublogs.org/

Call for Papers for the 66th Annual Midwest Conference on British Studies

The Midwest Conference on British Studies is proud to announce that its 66th Annual Meeting will be hosted by Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, IL, September 27-29, 2019. The keynote speaker will be Carole Levin of the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, and the plenary address will be given by Jordanna Bailkin of the University of Washington.

The MWCBS seeks papers from scholars in all fields of British Studies, broadly defined to include those who study England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Britain’s Empire and the Commonwealth from Roman Britain to the modern age. We welcome scholars from a broad spectrum of disciplines, including but not limited to history, literature, political science, gender studies, art and music history. Proposals for complete sessions are preferred, although proposals for individual papers will also be welcome. The MWCBS encourages scholars to use H-Albion to find additional panelists. Our organization can also help find chairs, commentators, and additional panelists, if needed.

We welcome individual proposals and proposals for panels (of three participants plus chair/commentator), roundtables (of four participants plus chair), poster sessions, and panels featuring the pre-circulation of papers among participants and audience members.

We welcome proposals that:

  • offer comparative analyses of different periods of British Studies, such as comparing medieval and early modern issues in context
  • situate the arts, letters, and sciences in a British cultural context
  • present new research on the political, social, cultural, and economic history of the British Isles
  • examine representations of British and imperial/Commonwealth national identities, including the construction of identities shaped by race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and dis/ability
  • consider Anglo-American relations, past and present
  • examine new trends in British Studies
  • assess a major work or body of work by a scholar
  • explore new developments in digital humanities, pedagogies, and/or research methodologies
  • present professional development sessions on collaborative or innovative learning techniques in the British Studies classroom or on topics of research, publication, public outreach, or employment relevant to British Studies scholars.

We welcome presentations by advanced graduate students and will award the Walter L. Arnstein Prize for the best graduate student paper(s) given at the conference. A limited number of Jim Sack Travel Awards will also be available, and all graduate students are encouraged to apply. Further details will be available on the MWCBS website: https://mwcbs.edublogs.org/

Proposal Requirements and Deadline:

  • Include a 200-word abstract for each paper and a 1-page c.v. for each participant, including chairs and commentators.
  • For full panels, also include a 200-word abstract for the panel as a whole.
  • Please place the panel abstract, accompanying paper proposals, and vitas in one Word or PDF file and submit it as a single attachment. Also identify, within the e-mail, the panel’s contact person.
  • All proposals should be submitted electronically by April 15, 2019, to the Program Committee Chair, John Krenzke at jkrenzke@tcc.edu.

Program Committee: Steven Catania, the University of Wisconsin; Jules Gehrke, Saginaw Valley State University; Patrick Kirkwood, Metropolitan Community College; John Krenzke, Chair, Tidewater Community College; Bonnie McLean, the College of DuPage; Rebecca Nesvet, the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay; David Pennington, Webster University.

Visit the MWCBS website at https://mwcbs.edublogs.org/

Embassy Suites by Hilton Lexington Green

Reservations for the Embassy Suites by Hilton Lexington Green may still be made for the $159/night attendee rate; however, the hotel has requested that we contact their guest services manager, Taylor Wetzel, directly to book at the MWCBS rate. She may be contacted at 859-271-7130 and to receive the attendee rate all you need to do is mention that you will be attending MWCBS. We currently have a small block of rooms (approximately ten) still available, so if you intend to book using the MWCBS rate it would be best to book as soon as possible.