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Global History Seminar Series

These seminars are made possible though the ERC funding associated with this project. They form a part of the wider Global History & Culture Centre events series.


'The Forced Migrations of British and French Prisoners of War in the Eighteenth Century'

Renaud Morieux (University of Cambridge)


6 March 2013, Humanities Building, H1.02, 5 - 7 pm.



'What was so Spanish about the Spanish Empire?'

Regina Grafe (Northwestern University)


21 November 2012, Ramphal Building, R.014, 5 - 7 pm.




'Crossing the Bay of Bengal: Histories and Ecologies of Migration'

Sunil Amrith (Birkbeck College London)


14 November 2012, Humanities Building, H1.02, 5 - 7 pm.



'Africa's Atlantic histories: The Case for a Pan-Atlantic Early Modern World'

Toby Green (King’s College London)


31 October 2012, Humanities Building, H1.02, 5 - 7 pm.



'The Trial of the Indies: How to Develop a Symmetric System of Knowledge'

Stephane van Damme (Sciences-PO)


14 March 2012, Humanities Building H1.02, 5 - 7 pm.
 
Stéphane Van Damme started his discussion with a presentation of the research seminar, “Re-staging Modernity: Imperial Encounters as Sites of Knowledge”, he co-chairs together with Dr Romain Bertrand, at Sciences Po in Paris. This developed into a discussion of the historiography of the cultural encounters, and how it has been discussed (e.g. in terms of clashes of civilisation, hybrid or Creole cultures or identities, and contact zones. Van Damme also discussed the impact of global history on the history of science and the work of Romaine Bertrand, particularly his latest book L'Histoire à parts égales. Récits d'une rencontre Orient-Occident (XVIe-XVIIe siècle, 2011) and his understanding of encounters as events when no contacts between different people were established. Van Damme then moved on to talk about his own research concerning the development of an anti-missionary travel literature, made up of travel accounts by libertine authors in the 17th and 18th century.


'Cafe of Coffeehouse? Transnational Histories of Coffee & Sociability'

Brian Cowan (McGill University)


Thursday 1 March 2012, Humanities Building H3.03, 5 - 7 pm.


'The Chinese Maritime Customs Project'

Hans Van de Ven (University of Cambridge)


Wednesday 25 January 2012, Humanities Building H1.02, 5 - 7pm.



'European Traders in Pre-Colonial Gujarat'

Ruby Maloni (University of Mumbai)


6 June 2011, Humanities Building, H3.03, 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

 

'Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not'

Prasannan Parthasarathi (Boston College)


11 May 2011, Humanities Building, H1.02, 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

 

The Third European Congress on World and Global History


14 - 17 April 2011, London School of Economics & Political Science.





'Colonial Knowledge and the Enlightment'

Hanco Jurgens (University of Amsterdam)


9 February 2011, Humanities Building, H1.02, 5 - 7 pm.






Interdisciplinary Workshop: Political Economy, the State and Empire in the later 17th and 18th Centuries, led by Prof. Steve Pincus (Yale)


4 February 2011, IAS Seminar Room, Millburn House.

The first session, a panel discussion of the arguments relating to political economy in Steve Pincus’ 1688 – The First Modern Revolution began with an introduction to, and summary of, the book by Felicia Gottmann which lead into the debate. The ensuing discussion proved lively and interesting. Steve Pincus emphasised the importance of a rhetoric of modernity in the revolutionary discourse which expressed a strong self-consciousness about a break with the past, and in which the Dutch and the French served as contemporary shorthand for opposing cultural and economic models. Mark Knights pointed to the importance of varying definitions of the state, questioning how this mapped onto the Tory-Whig divisions, whilst some of the debate also focussed on the importance of interconfessional divisions and the intersections of religion and economy. Professor Pincus particularly opposed traditional accounts of the Revolution, Macaulay’s above all, which separate political and religious change from socio-economic developments, emphasising, with the general agreement of all attendees, the importance of political economy arguments in the lead-up to, and development, of the 1688 Revolution.

The second session broadened the focus of the discussions. The six invited speakers gave short presentations of their current research relating to the general theme of political economy, the state, and empire. The presentations were intended to stimulate further debate and succeeded admirably in this. Steve Pincus spoke about his current research on the origins of the British Empire, lead by the question why, after having fought land-based empire projects for 150 years, the English began to establish a huge empire in the 1750s. Will Pettigrew presented his theses as to why the British Royal African Company lost its monopoly in the 1690s, whilst the EIC did not. Pernille Røge spoke on her past research on French physiocratic political economy doctrines and their relationship to colonial policy and administration, which seamlessly lead her to comment on her current research on the Danish trade and Empire. Koji Yamamoto gave a presentation on the Early Modern notion of projecting and the projector and the problematic perception of these, whilst Perry Gauci outlined the current state of scholarship and the areas in need for more research. Will Ashworth gave an overview of his forthcoming book, Illiberalism and the Making of Industrial Britain, which seeks to re-emphasise the importance of the state in the process of Industrialisation. All of the papers proved stimulating to lively discussions, which continued long after the official end to the proceedings.



Seminar: Asia, Europe and Spanish America:Global Connections in the Early Modern World


24 November 2010.


Program:

Afternoon lecture by Prof. Arturo Giraldez: Waves of Silver in World History
 
Evening session:

Prof. Arturo Giraldez (University of the Pacific): The State, Trade and Economy in 17th Century mexico and manila

Dr Alejandre Irigoin (London School of Economics): The Manila Galleon; why there was only one?

Panel discussion: Global perspectives on connecting histories of Eurasia and Spanish America.