News and Events in British Studies
Keep up to date with news, upcoming events, ongoing seminars and series, and recent faculty publications.
In the News
New Research Databases Available
The Columbia University Libraries are pleased to announce that they have acquired ongoing access to the following databases:
17th-18th Century British Library Newspapers
Searchable full-text access to the British Library's
collection of the newspapers, pamphlets, and books
gathered by Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817)--the
largest and most comprehensive collection of early
English news media. More than twelve hundred titles and
almost one million pages are included.
19th Century British Library Newspapers
Searchable full text of full runs of more than 45
newspapers specially selected by the British Library to
best represent nineteenth-century Britain. This new
collection includes national and regional newspapers, as
well as newspapers from: established country or university
towns; the new industrial powerhouses of the manufacturing
Midlands; and Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Special
attention was paid to include newspapers that helped lead
particular political or social movements such as Reform,
Chartism, and Home Rule. Penny papers aimed at the working
and clerical classes are also included.
These and other databases will continue to be available from our resources page.
Brown awarded Frederick Douglass Prize
Christopher Leslie Brown has been awarded the Frederick Douglass Prize of the Gilder Lehrmann Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale University for his recent book, Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (University of North Carolina Press, 2006). Read more here.
Upcoming Events
Catherine Hall on the Macaulays
March 10, 2008
6:15pm
Heyman Center, East Campus
Catherine Hall, Professor of Social and Cultural History, University College, London, will speak on: "An Empire of God or of Man": The Macaulays, Father and Son
British History Lunch
March 10, 2008
12pm - 1:30pm
IRWAG Conference Room, 754 Schermerhorn Extension
There will be an open discussion about recent developments in British history with Prof. Catherine Hall over sandwiches on March 10, 12 noon to 1:30, in the IRWaG conference room, 754 Schermerhorn Extention. This event is for Columbia graduate students only. Please rsvp to Nellie Boucher, by March 5th if you would like to attend.
Boyd Hilton on British History
March 25, 2008
6pm - 8pm
Heyman Center, East Campus
Professor Boyd Hilton, University of Cambridge, will speak on his work over the past decades in the field of British history. Scholars from several fields will also comment. This event is being hosted by British Studies at Columbia.
Past Events
British Studies at Columbia Inaugural
Event:
Anti-Slavery as a Narrative for Our Time?
November 29, 2007
5-7 p.m.
Core Curriculum Conference Room, Hamilton Hall
Simon Schama, University Professor, and Christopher Leslie Brown, Professor of History, reflect on the intellectual and moral challenges and rewards involved in writing about slavery and abolition in today's world.
In 2006, Simon Schama published Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Non-Fiction in 2007. The film of the book has been broadcast on television in the UK, and Caryl Phillips's play based on the book has run in Liverpool, Birmingham, and elsewhere. In 2006, Christopher Brown published Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism which won the 2007 Frederick Douglass Prize of the Gilder Lehrmann Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, as well as both the Morris Forkosch Prize in British History and the James A. Rawley Prize in Atlantic History of the American Historical Association.
Methods and Practices in British Studies across the Disciplines
November 12, 2007
6-8 p.m.
Heyman Center
Why do we do what we do? Please join us on November 12th, 2007, for a roundtable discussion of methods and practices in British Studies across the disciplines with Professors Nicholas Dames and Jenny Davidson from the English Department and Professors Emma Winter and Evan Haefeli from the History Department. The roundtable will be held from 6pm to 8pm in the Heyman Center, and will be followed by a reception to meet graduate students and faculty interested in this field.
Seminars and Series
British History University Seminar
First Thursday of every month
6-8 p.m.
Fayerweather 513
The British History Seminar brings together faculty and graduate students with an interest in British history at Columbia and other institutions in the greater New York area. The seminar meets 6-8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month in Fayerweather 513, Columbia University, to discuss work in progress by a member of the group, or a recent book of interest to the group as a whole.
Future Meetings:
Apr. 3: Corrie Decker, Assistant Professor, Lehman College, and Aaron Windel, Doctoral Candidate, University of Minnesota, will discuss their current work on "Education and Empire in East Africa." Papers will be pre-circulated: please contact Susan Pedersen if you would like a copy of the paper.
Recent Meetings:
Feb. 7: A discussion of Queer
London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis
1918-57, by Matt Houlbrook.
Dec. 1: Kathleen Wilson, History Department, SUNY Stony Brook, will present a paper, "Rethinking the Colonial State". Discussant: Christopher L. Brown, History Department, Columbia University.
Nov. 1: Ellen Ross, History Department, Ramapo College, will present a paper, "The Disgruntled Missionaries: Mary Neal and Emmeline Pethick at the West London Mission, 1888-1895." Discussant: Sharon Marcus, English Department, Columbia University.
If you would like to join the British History seminar, please contact Prof. Susan Pedersen
.