The Northeast Conference on British Studies (NECBS) will hold its 2022 annual meeting on Friday and Saturday, October 21 and 22, at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine. We encourage in-person attendance, but for those who cannot make it, we aim to have one hybrid (in-person and virtual) session per time slot.
We solicit the participation of scholars in all areas of British Studies, broadly defined. In particular, we welcome proposals for interdisciplinary panels that draw on the work of historians, literary critics, and scholars in other disciplines, whose focus is on Britain and its empire, from the Middle Ages to the present. Proposals for entire panels on a common theme will be given priority, although individual paper proposals will also be considered if several of them can be assembled to create a viable panel. Proposals for roundtable discussions of a topical work, on current issues in the field, or pedagogical practices with respect to the teaching of particular aspects of British Studies are also encouraged. The typical ninety-minute panel will include three papers (each lasting for roughly twenty minutes) and a chair. (In the interest of allowing greater audience participation in Q&A, the position of “moderator/comment” is optional.) Roundtables may have a looser format.
Proposals should include a general description of the panel or roundtable (including an overall title), a 200-300 word abstract for each paper to be read, and a one-page curriculum vitae for each participant. Please include the address, phone number, and e-mail address of all participants (including the chair and, if applicable, moderator) in the proposal, and indicate whether the paper(s) will be delivered in-person or virtually. For panel or roundtable proposals, please note the name of the main contact person. Electronic submissions (as e-mail attachments in Word) are preferred, with all the various materials presented in a single document.
Graduate students, please note: Each year the NECBS Executive Committee awards the David Underdown Memorial Prize to the best graduate student paper presented at the conference. (See details here.)
All submissions must be received by [our new extended deadline of] June 15th, 2022 (final decisions will be announced in early July 2022).
Please send your proposals to:
Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre, NECBS Vice President and Program Chair
jennifer.reganlefebvre@trincoll.edu
The in-person conference will follow Bates College’s fall COVID-19 guidelines. At present those include a requirement that outside visitors can show proof either of vaccination and boosting or of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours of arrival. We will communicate any updates with presenters over the summer, along with local arrangement details, including shuttles to/from Portland, Maine, transportation hubs.