The British have a long history of travelling beyond their isles. Since the eighteenth century they developed a taste for discovery and self-discovery through the exploration – and exploitation – of other lands and countries and through their encounters with other societies and civilisations. The development into new forms of tourism challenged the perceptions the British had of the world. These journeys also impacted on the representation and formation of Britishness and the constituency of the Other within a world that moved from traditional to modern, from colonial to post-colonial.

This two-day conference will examine the roles travellers, artists, writers, politicians, diplomats, service personnel, and tourists consumers played in creating and disseminating ideas and values about Britain and the world. We are interested in understanding how different social, economic, cultural, military, artistic and political values and practises have influenced international exchanges, and how the evolution from elite to popular tourism changed perceptions and representations. By looking at British travel experiences in the last three centuries from an interdisciplinary perspective, this conference seeks to study national consciousness by comparing international connections and their representations. An edited collection of proceedings will be prepared for publication with the new Britain and the World series from Palgrave Macmillan.

Subthemes offering pathways towards and around the theme of ‘British travel experience and impact’:

• Interactions between Westerners and others
• Perspectives on Britain, the West and the rest of the World
• The British and the Commonwealth
• The British and the Europeans
• The ‘English-speaking peoples’
• Nationalism(s) abroad
• Travellers in colonial and postcolonial worlds
• Networks and politics
• Representation and governmentality
• English and other languages
• The self and the other
• National myths, identity and memory
• Cultural, social and economic tourism
• Trans-culturation and tradition
• Leaving, and returning; staying
• Travel and class
• Genders abroad
• Notions of ‘civilisation’

We plan to include a visit to the exhibition India through Photography: Two Times, Two Photographers to accompany the conference at the Oriental Museum in Durham, including works by Samuel Bourne and Xavier Guégan.

Abstracts: Proposals of 300-400 words and a brief biographical statement to be sent to Dr Martin Farr at martin.farr@ncl.ac.uk and Dr Xavier Guégan at xavier.guegan@ncl.ac.uk by 28 January 2010 or please indicate your intention to send a proposal and the date by which you will be able to send it. Please add 5-6 key words and an indication of the most appropriate subthemes for your paper.

Organisers: Dr Martin Farr (Senior Lecturer in British History, Newcastle University), Dr Xavier Guégan (Visiting Lecturer in Colonial History, Newcastle University).