CNCS Annual Postgraduate Conference

26th April 2023
Newcastle, United Kingdom

The Nineteenth Century Now: Reassessing the Continued Role and
Relevance of the Long Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth century was a crucial period in the development of new ideas, transnational connections and the widespread professionalisation of disciplines ranging from history to the natural sciences. The Humanities as a whole face new challenges with increasing emphasis on societal impacts from research. Yet, these challenges also present opportunities for nineteenth-century studies to reassess and reshape themselves in new ways, incorporating developments such as the rise of digital humanities and interdisciplinary research methods.

This conference will explore these developments, from nineteenth-century artefacts and texts to reflections on the place of nineteenth-century studies as a discipline, as it considers the ongoing relevance of the nineteenth century, including:

• How does the nineteenth century define itself across disciplines in a contemporary research context? What are the challenges that emerge within and across disciplines?
• How might nineteenth-century studies respond to recent projects such as decolonisation of the curriculum? And what does it mean to study the nineteenth century now?
• How and why do legacies of the long nineteenth century remain important to current society and culture?

Conference Programme

9:15-9:30  Welcome and Housekeeping

9:30 – 10:30

Panel 1: (Re)Encountering Femininities

Chair: Eloise Scott (Northumbria University)

‘Why is everyone trying to persuade us to remain feminine?’:
Valentina Serova and the Women’s Liberation Movement in Russia
Nicholas Ong (University of Cambridge)

‘Unhinged’ Women: Gender and Violence in Rachilde’s La
Marquise de Sade (1887) and Eliza Clark’s Boy Parts (2020)
Marie Martine (University of Oxford)

Towards a History of Feminist Counter-Language: Insights and
Legacies from the Long Nineteenth Century
Martina Guzzetti (Università degli Studi di Milano)

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee and Tea

11:00 – 11:45 

Panel 2: ‘Cleansing’ the Nineteenth Century

Chair: Margaret Gray (Newcastle University)

To Conquer the Filth: Street Cleaners and the Public Space in
Nineteenth Century French Art
Amit Kestenbaum (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

The Strangest Creatures: Hybrid People in Weird Eco-Utopianism in
William Henry Hudson’s A Crystal Age
Charlie Toogood (Newcastle University)

Health Care in the Armies of Nineteenth Century British India:
Lessons for the Present Day
David J. Gawkrodger (University of Oxford)

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch

13:00 – 14:30                         

Panel 3: Transnational Legacies of Empire
Chair: Keerthi Vasishta (Durham University)

A Re-examination of the Nineteenth-Century Roots of the ‘Ulster
Problem’
Patrick Duffy (Trinity College, Dublin)

The Female Scot Quebecer in Nineteenth-Century Lower Canada:
The Lasting Influence of the Dalhousies and Campbells on Quebec
Science/Society
Kimberly M. Glassman (Queen Mary University of London)

Who was King Philip IV? — A Comparative Study of Transcultural
Soundscapes in Shanghai Concession through Musical Iconography
in the late 19th Century
Teng Chen (University of Southampton)

Sheffield and Atlantic Slavery in the Long Nineteenth Century:
Charting the Economy, Society and Culture of a British Industrial
City
Toby Gardner (University of Sheffield)

14:30-15:00 Tea and Coffee

15:00-16:00 Keynote

Chair: Annabel Storr (Durham University)

Re examining Science, Religion, and, Race through African
Collections: British Museums and Colonial Erasure in the Long 19th
Century
Dr Nathan Bossoh (Science Museum)

16:00-16:10 Closing Remarks

Download a copy of the conference programme from the link below

2022-23 CNCS Postgraduate Conference Programme