New Scholarship in British Art History: Discoveries at the NCMA

A two-day conference, in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, hosted alongside the upcoming exhibition "History and Mystery: Discoveries in the NCMA British Collection."

Date: Friday, January 27 & Saturday, January 28, 2017.

Keynote: Edward Town, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Collections Information and Access at the Yale Center for British Art

The question of what makes the British Isles “British” is particularly relevant given recent political events, such as the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. Using the North Carolina Museum of Art’s British collections as inspiration, this New Scholars Conference explores the ways in which we can examine “English” and “British” works of art. Particularly, this topic raises questions about the ways Britain can be viewed, either as inward looking and/or in dialogue with the wider world.

We encourage topics ranging from traditional categories of British art, such as portraiture, to new investigations into the mobility of artists and styles, as well as issues of race, class, and gender. The aim of this conference is to explore how innovative scholarship and new narratives can help expand the larger discipline of British studies. This conference is intended for graduate students, recent doctoral graduates, and post-doctoral scholars. We strongly suggest that speakers consider their papers in relation to the British collections at the NCMA, whose works of art range from 1580-1850.

We invite 20-minute papers on topics including (but not limited to) the following:

English Portraiture
Britain’s Relationship to the World
Post-Reformation Effects on the Arts
Influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds
British Notions of Territory
Architecture in the English Context
Race, Gender, & Class in Art
Formation of the British Academy
The Immigrant Artist
The British Family in Art
Foreign Influences in British Art
Imagery of Travel and Exchange

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 , 2016 (SPEAKERS WILL BE INFORMED VIA EMAIL BY OCTOBER 1, 2016)

Please send an abstract (250 words) and a CV to Miranda Elston (mlelstonemail.unc.edu), with the email heading “NCMA New Scholarship in British Art History” and your Name, Affiliated Institution, and Paper Title in the email.