The Midwest Conference on British Studies is proud to announce that its 70th Annual Meeting will be held at Bowling Green State University on October 13-14, 2023.

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: http://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 21, 2023 to the Program Committee Chair, David Pennington at dpennington41@webster.edu.

We look forward to the excellent panels, keynote, and discussions at this year’s 68th annual MWCBS conference! The conference runs October 15-16, 2021.

Attendees can still register through EventBrite.

The final conference program, containing the Zoom links, is available. All times for this year’s conference are in Central Daylight Time (CDT) (UTC-5).

Registration for The 68th Annual Midwest Conference on British Studies is now open!

Registration is $20 for general admission attendees and graduate students can register for free. There is also an option for donating to the graduate student fund.

A finalized program will be available soon. A preliminary program is currently available to view.

We look forward to seeing you on Zoom October 15-16, 2021!

The 68th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Conference on British Studies will be held online, via Zoom, October 15-16, 2021.

The Jim Sack Travel Awards will be used to pay the registration fees of graduate students who attend the conference. When you complete the registration process, select the graduate student option to register for $0.

If you are not a graduate student but are facing either employment or economic hardship and cannot pay for the conference, please contact Susie Steinbach to discuss options.

A copy of the draft program, final registration fees, and a link to the registration page will be added to this website soon. Please check back for additional information.

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: http://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 http://mwcbs.edublogs.org/

MWCBS.2019.FINAL.SEPT23

A pdf version of the 2019 Midwest Conference on British Studies program may be found through this link.

MWCBS.2019.AUG13.DRAFT

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. 26^th 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 27^th, 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 28^th, 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