Travel has played an essential role in human activity. The migrations of early hominids to more recent excursions into space have connected peoples, cultures, and societies in many ways. Travel, broadly defined, could also lead to the creation of empires. As different cultures and societies connected, positive and negative views were formulated. Usually these narratives are Euro-centred and therefore distort or ignore the importance of local actors. In turn, others could use these narratives to justify actions, especially in the creation of colonies. Hosted by the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Cultures at the University of Southampton, this conference seeks papers examining travel, connectivity, and the uses of history from the Ancient World to the Early Modern Period. We are open to papers from any discipline, especially History, English Literature, Music and Archaeology, and are particularly interested in interdisciplinary approaches. We encourage papers from post-graduates and early career colleagues.
Two events will follow the conference. First, Professor Claire Jowitt (University of East Anglia) will give a keynote paper on her recent Leverhulme-funded project on the Wreck of the Gloucester (https://stories.uea.ac.uk/the-gloucester/ and www.gloucester1682trust.org). This will be followed (at 6 pm) by the annual Reuter Lecture, a key event for the CMRC which was created to honour the career and achievements of the late Professor Timothy Reuter. This year’s Lecture will be given by Dr Guido van Meersbergen (University of Warwick).
The Event will take place on 15th May 2025. The pre-conference will start at 10 am and Professor Jowitt’s keynote will commence at 3 pm.
Proposals
Individual paper proposals should include an abstract (200-250 words), a brief biography (up to 100 words) and full contact information. Papers should be 20 minutes in duration. The deadline for proposals is 30 April 2025. Proposals and questions should be directed to Professor Craig Lambert at [email protected]
