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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Ending our PG/ECR conference with a tour of Faculté de médecine de Montpellier! It’s been a great couple of days, with brilliant papers and discussions. Thanks to all those attending and to our French collaborators @doctorants1718.bsky.social @sfeds-bs.bsky.social

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Today’s workshop at our PG/ECR conference — challenges and opportunities in international research!

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Starting our PG/ECR conference today with discussion of plants and natural histories!

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Registration has started in the courtyard of University of Montpellier Paul-Valéry for this years BSECS PG/ECR conference! @sfeds-bs.bsky.social @doctorants1718.bsky.social

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Our PG/ECR conference in collaboration with @sfeds-bs.bsky.social @doctorants1718.bsky.social kicks off tomorrow in Montpellier! Very excited to welcome our delegates soon.

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Not only is the #CFP for #BSECS2027 out, the @isecs-sieds.bsky.social #CFP has also been released. 'Enlightenment and (in)equality' will take place in Zaragoza, Spain on the 12-16 July 2026.

The image is a poster for the ISECS conference with details of the date, and the location, overlaying an image of an ornate coach while people sell their wares and a small dog curled up in the corner

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

The next @isecs-sieds.bsky.social #ECR Seminar is taking place at Trier on 17-19 June. Details below:

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

If you find yourself in Paris on the 10-12 June 2026, you might like to attend @isecs-sieds.bsky.social 'Reframing the Enlightenment: intellectual & political disputes today', at the Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris Details ⬇️ #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

You may only just have recovered from #BSECS2026, but our hardworking reps are already planning our #PGR #ECR conference, University of Montpellier Paul-Valery, 3-4 September 2026 on 'Improvement, Degeneration, Stagnation' Deadline for submissions: 13 March 2026 #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies
Postgraduate and Early Career Researcher Conference
Improvement
Degeneration
Stagnation
University of Montpellier
3-4 September 2026 Paul-Valery

We invite proposals for papers for this year’s collaborative Postgraduate and Early Career Researcher Conference between the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, the Société d’Études Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles and the Société Française d’Études du XVIIIe siècle, held at the University of Montpellier Paul-Valéry.

Topics considering improvement, degeneration and stagnation could include, but are not limited to:

· The materiality of any of, or all, these terms
· Social, economic, moral and physical wellbeing
· Medical perspectives, including the development of psychiatric and psychological medicine and alternate (pseudo-)scientific endeavours such as alchemy or spiritualism
· Ideas around taste, attitudes, values and class, both in the social and literary domains
· Debates and evolutions regarding language
· National identities and comparisons
· The pace of improvement and/or degeneration
· Science, innovation and the improvement of knowledge
· Colonisation and slavery
· Religion, secularisation and Enlightenment thought
· Gender, sexuality and the perception of the female body
· Conceptions of improvement or degeneration in art, design and architecture; as well as in literature and philosophy
· The notion of change and teleological narratives of progress
· The ambiguities surrounding the notion of progress and the uncertain boundaries between improvement, stagnation and degeneration All submissions should be sent to montpellierconference2026@gmail.com for consideration. Submissions can be in either French or English. For individual papers, please send abstracts of 250 words and a short biography. For fully formed panels, (3-4 speakers), roundtables or workshops please send abstracts of 250 words for each paper along with brief details of the proposed theme, biographies of speakers, and proposed chair. CFP opens 7th January 2026 and closes 13th March 2026.

En lien avec le rôle joué par Montpellier dans le développement des connaissances médicales en Europe, le colloque de cette année étudiera les notions de progrès, de dégénérescence et de stagnation.

Nous invitons les participants à interpréter les termes de progrès, de dégénérescence et de stagnation de façon large, sans restrictions géographiques, étymologiques ou conceptuelles. Les propositions pourront s’intéresser aux questions suivantes:

· La matérialité de ces termes
· Le bien-être social, moral et économique
· Les perspectives médicales, incluant le développement de la médecine psychologique ou psychiatrique et des (pseudo-)sciences comme le spiritualisme ou l’alchimie
· La question du goût, des mentalités, des valeurs et des distinctions entre groupes, tant dans le domaine social que littéraire
· Les débats et évolutions concernant le langage
· Les identités et comparaisons nationales
· Le rythme du progrès et/ou de la dégénérescence
· Science, innovation et développement des savoirs
· Exploitation coloniale et esclavage
· Religion, sécularisation et pensée des Lumières
· Genre, sexualité et perception du corps féminin
· Conception du progrès et de la dégénérescence dans l’art, le design et l’architecture
· La notion de changement et la vision téléologique du progrès
· Les ambiguïtés autour de la notion de progrès et les frontières incertaines entre le progrès, la dégénérescence et la stagnation

Les propositions de communication, en français ou en anglais, sont à envoyer à l’adresse montpellierconference2026@gmail.com, sous la forme d’un résumé de 250 mots assorti d’une courte biobibliographie. Les propositions d’ateliers, de tables rondes ou de séances complètes (entre 3 et 4 intervenants) doivent être accompagnées d’un résumé pour chaque proposition et d’une courte présentation du thème, des intervenants, et du/de la président.e de séance pressenti.e. Les propositions sont à envoyer avant le 13 mars 2026.

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

How many scholarly societies have a President who sings to them?! @historymatt.bsky.social's rendition of 'We are the very model of a scholarly society' brought the house down last night at the #BSECS2026 conference dinner @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

An image of the hall at Pembroke College, which has dark wood panelling and arched ceiling beams, mullioned windows with stained glass (though it is dark outside), and portraits on the wall, filled with long tables and people. Matthew McCormack stands at one end holding a microphone.

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

How do we communicate the 18thC to modern audiences both "big" and "small"?? Join us in the Pichette Auditorium now to hear panellists from publishing, public engagement, podcasting, and writing share their experiences #BSECS2026 #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

A panel of five people sit at a long table in front of a blue screen with an audience

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

The Pichette Auditorium is packed for @chloewigstonsmith.bsky.social's key note address 'Thinking With and Again Small Things' at #BSECS2026 #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

A large screen with the title of the paper, and an audience seated on tiered chairs.

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Text for screen readers in the thread below. 2/10

An image of the call for papers. Key elements of the text are in the thread that follows.

An image of the CFP - key text for screen readers is in the thread below

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

We are very excited to announce the #cfp for our #PGR #ECR conference on 'Facades' - 30/31 July at Bath Spa University Please send 250 word abstract + short bio to postgrad@bsecs.org.uk by the 21 March 2025 Full details for screen readers in the thread below 1/5 #BSECS2025 #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

As featured in Mansfield Park (but too scandalous to perform), and now resurrected for the London stage! Lover's Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald, Jack Studio Theatre and Historia Theatre Company, from the 21 January to 1 February #18thC #skystorians 🗃️

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 10/07/2024

🚨Coffee House Perspectives returns for the first of THREE new episodes to be released over the summer!🚨 In the first, Alex Hobday talks to Michèle Cohen about pedagogies for children in 18th-Century England! Listen: t.co/PNQTnVNcfe More info: t.co/syjLmwQsQQ #18C #18thC #18thCentury #BSECS

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 08/03/2024

#ICYMI CfP for #BSECS PGR/ECR Conference in Uppsala, Sweden, 22/23 August 2024. Theme is Communication and Exchange. CfP closes 31 March 2024. #PGR #ECR #18thC #Skystorians

We invite proposals for papers for the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies’ Postgraduate and Early-Career Researcher Conference 2024, held at Uppsala University in association with the Department of Art History and the Swedish Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. We particularly invite papers from postgraduate and early-career researchers that address our theme, but proposals relating to any aspect of the long eighteenth century, with any geographical focus, are welcome. All submissions should be sent to postgrad@bsecs.org.uk for consideration. For individual papers, please send abstracts of 250 words and a short biography. For fully formed panels, (3-4 speakers), roundtables or workshops please send abstracts of 250 words for each paper along with brief details of the proposed theme, biographies of speakers, and proposed chair. CFP opens 1st February 2024 and closes 31st March 2024. We aim to get back to all speakers by mid-April with decisions.

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 06/02/2024

Submissions are invited for the BSECS PGR & ECR Conference, to be held at Uppsala University, 22/23 August 2024. The theme this year is 'Communication and Exchange' #18thC 🗃️ #skystorians

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 16/01/2024

WORKSHOP #CFP, University of Edinburgh, 13 Sept 2024. Exploring how best to ethically pursue and undertake research into Britain's history of slavery, colonialism and race. **DEADLINE 31 MARCH 2024** #18thC 🗃️ #skystorians

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 04/01/2024

It feels like there should be a joke here about a room full of eighteenth-centuryists but after two days of incredible papers & exciting conversations, we can't think of it. Glorious food and meeting friends old and new at the #BSECS2024 conference dinner #18thC

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 04/01/2024

The stage is set for our plenary lecture on 'The Meaning of Sancho' by Paterson Joseph #BSECS2024 #18thC

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 03/01/2024

Sancho&Me - for one night only with Paterson Joseph. Funny, informative, and clever - a fabulous way to finish day one of #BSECS2024 #18thC

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BSECS @bsecs.bsky.social · 03/01/2024

@bsecs.bsky.social president @brycchancarey.bsky.social delivering the welcome address to a packed audience for #BSECS2024 #18thC

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