NECBS Annual Meeting 2026: Call for Papers

The NECBS is extending the application deadline for the 2026 Annual Meeting in Worcester, MA to June 18th, 2026. We especially welcome submissions from graduate students looking to present their work and want to remind them that all papers presented by a graduate student at the conference are eligible to win the David Underdown Prize. You can find out more details about the prize, awarded in honor of former NECBS President David Underdown, and see the list of previous winners at our website here. 

Questions about proposals can be directed to Mary Conley, NECBS Vice-President, Program Chair, and Local Host at mconley@holycross.edu. 

See below for the original Call for Papers.

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The Northeast Conference on British Studies (NECBS) welcomes proposals for its 2026 annual meeting, to be held at the College of the Holy Cross and the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA from October 2nd - 4th, 2026.  We are delighted to announce that our keynote speaker will be Professor Zara Anishanslin of the University of Delaware, a scholar of transatlantic visual and material culture. 

We solicit the participation of scholars in all areas of British Studies, broadly defined, and across career stages.  Although most NECBS participants are historians working on post-1400 topics, we welcome multidisciplinary papers on Britain, the British empire, and the legacies of British rule, from the ancient past to the present.  This includes, for example, literary and cultural perspectives, and histories of the Caribbean, Africa, North America, and South Asia.  This year, we would particularly welcome papers that critically engage with the United States’s semiquincentennial from British Studies perspectives.  

We welcome proposals for entire panels on a common theme; individual paper proposals will also be considered if several 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 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.

The NECBS is committed to an inclusive conference.  We endeavour to keep registration fees affordable and to offer small stipends to unfunded speakers, as our budget allows.  We encourage in-person attendance but aim to have several hybrid (in-person and virtual) sessions those unable to attend in person.  

Panel proposals should be submitted electronically using this form.  Include a general description of the panel or roundtable (including an overall title), a 200-300 word abstract for each paper to be presented, and a brief bio for each participant. Please include contact details of all participants in the proposal, and indicate whether the paper(s) will be delivered in-person or virtually. 

Individual paper proposals should be submitted electronically using this form. Each paper should have a title, 200-300-word abstract, and a short bio of the presenter. Please include contact details and indicate whether the paper will be delivered in-person or virtually. 

Graduate students, please note:  We warmly welcome graduate students.  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.)  

About our hosts:  The College of the Holy Cross is a liberal arts college in the Jesuit tradition.  The American Antiquarian Society is a national research library and sponsors many fellowships.  Worcester is a mid-sized city in central Massachusetts, about an hour west of Boston by car or commuter rail.  Worcester has an Amtrak station with connections to Albany and Boston, and a regional airport (ORH), although Boston Logan Airport is easily accessible.  

All submissions must be received by June 1, 2026 (final decisions will be announced in June 2026). 

Questions about proposals can be directed to Mary Conley, NECBS Vice-President, Program Chair, and Local Host at mconley@holycross.edu. 

NECBS Executive: 

President:  Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre, Trinity College (jreganle@trincoll.edu)

Vice-President: Mary Conley, The College of the Holy Cross (mconley@holycross.edu)

Treasurer: Michael Ortiz, University of Rhode Island (michael.ortiz@uri.edu)

Communications: Craig Gallagher, Colby-Sawyer College (craig.gallagher@colby- sawyer.edu)

Secretary: Anna Suranyi, Endicott College (asuranyi@endicott.edu)

Past President: Brian Lewis, McGill University (brian.lewis@mcgill.ca)

Would you like to be more involved with NECBS?  Contact any of us on the committee.