Programme

9.30am: Arrival

10am: Welcome

10.15am: Dan Orlovsky, ‘Chris Read and the Russian Revolution’

10.35am: Geoff Roberts, ‘Chris Read as Biographer’

11.15am: Break (coffee/tea)

11.30am: Matthew Rendle, ‘Inventing the Russian Revolution: Conceptualising

Revolution in the print culture of 1917’

11.50am: Ian Thatcher, ‘Trotsky and the Tenth Party Congress’

12.45pm: Lunch

2pm: James Ryan, ‘“Moscow doesn’t believe in tears”: Violence and Madness in

Vladimir Zazubrin’s Chip (1923)’

2.20pm: David Saunders, ‘Why Does Putin Object to Ukraine?’

3.15pm: Coffee/Tea and Speeches

An EMECC workshop jointly organised with Birmingham University.

This year, Birmingham Eighteenth-century Centre will host the annual workshop of the Midlands Eighteenth Century Research Network, in-person on the University of Birmingham campus, on Friday 20th May between around 10am and 5pm (followed by drinks and dinner for those who choose it!). The event will be an opportunity to meet and catch up with fellow scholars of the eighteenth century, to share problems and ideas from current work in progress, celebrate recent publications, and also to contemplate the future of eighteenth-century studies in the region, the country, and the academy at large.

Instead of a formal call for papers, I have set up a registration form. The form gives you the opportunity to propose a short talk on your current work in progress, and to let us know about any recent publication you might want to highlight. This information will allow us to finalise a programme, but roughly speaking I expect the event to fall into three parts: (1) work-in-progress in the morning, (2) recent publications and the state of the field after lunch, and (3) the future of eighteenth-century scholarship in the midlands and beyond, after that. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, thanks to support from the Birmingham Research Centre for History and Cultures, and the School of History and Cultures.

Please complete your registration using the form by Friday 29th April, so that I can share the full programme and further details by Friday 6th May. If you have any questions or thoughts about the event, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me directly at t.cutterham@bham.ac.uk

This session, led by Dr Bryan Brazeau (Associate Professor, Liberal Arts) will introduce participants to the medieval and Renaissance idea of the hortus conclusus or closed paradise garden. It will combine aspects of theology, art history, and literature to explore how garden design was freighted with ideological significance in the late middle ages and renaissance periods. You will also have the opportunity to design your own twenty-first century paradise garden.

Sessions will run 12.30-13.30 and 13.45-14.45 followed by more informal drop-ins from 15.00-16.30.

Bryan's session is part of the official opening of the new Faculty of Arts building, featuring a whole host of activities to celebrate arts and creativity on campus. There’ll be live music, student performances and a range of workshops, activities and drop-in events running mostly from 12.30 pm to 5 pm, with live music continuing until 9 pm. Take a look at some of the activities that will be taking place below, or come along and wander around the building on the day to see what you can find!