NENC 2012 symposium: 'Moving Towards Science in the Long Nineteenth Century'

We are delighted to announce that NENC will host a one-day postgraduate symposium on Wednesday 12 September 2012, entitled 'Moving Towards Science in the Long Nineteenth Century'.

The theme of the symposium reflects two parallel ‘moves’ towards science. First, it references the rise of the ‘natural sciences’, the scientific method, and the professional scientist across the long nineteenth century. Second, it recognises moves in contemporary arts and humanities scholarship towards a more nuanced disciplinary relationship with the sciences and the possibility of ‘one culture’. Adopting an exploratory methodology, the day will allow postgraduate delegates to think widely about how literary culture of the period approached, adapted, and rejected emergent scientific, technological, and medical discourses and methods. More broadly, we will consider how and why literature and science might move together in the contemporary academy.

Our guest speakers for this event are Professor Jennifer Richards and Dr Anne Whitehead (Newcastle University), Professor David Knight (Durham University), and Dr Peter Garratt (Northumbria University). Ranging across the early modern period to the end of the long nineteenth century in their areas of specialisation, our guest speakers will consider in particular how they have approached or made use of scientific discourses in their own research. This will make, we believe, for a fruitful and unique discussion about the challenges and opportunities of a turn towards scientific discourses.

The symposium is made possible by a grant from the British Society for Literature and Science, as well as the generous support of the three host universities, for which we are extremely grateful. In particular, we're pleased to be able to offer an number of travel bursaries to presenters. This will allow postgraduates from beyond the North East region to attend and to foster relationships with institutions further afield.

The full call for papers is out now, and can found under the 'NENC 2012 Symposium' page on this website, where all updates will be posted; the deadline for abstracts is 30 July 2012. This promises to be a fantastic event and we hope to see many of you there.