Forwarded From: Matteo Lodevole <[email protected]>
CALL FOR PAPERS
2007 Churchill Archives Student Conference
The Churchill Archives Centre is pleased to announce its first 'Churchill
Archives Student Conference' to take place at the Churchill Archives
Centre, Churchill College, University of Cambridge on 30 November 2007
-
Sir Winston's birthday.
It is hoped that the conference will become a regular event with its focus
on aspects of British foreign policy and international relations in the
"Churchill Era and beyond" (the period most associated with
the collections
of the Archives Centre). This era can be broadly defined as the
mid-nineteenth century to the present day. However, the proposal is to
use
a strategic view of British foreign relations as a framework to examine
key
themes in their wider international context.
In order to ensure a successful and high profile start to the conference
series, the following title is suggested for 2007: 'Balancing Europe,
Empire and America: Was Churchill right?'. In 1948, Churchill described
the
United Kingdom as sitting at the intersection of three circles: the British
Commonwealth and Empire, 'the English-speaking world' (including of course
the USA), and 'United Europe'. At a time when Britain's power was in
radical decline, he used this imagery in order to suggest that in the
future 'it may be found that once again we hold the key to opening a safe
and happy future to humanity'. Papers may deal with any period of the
career of Churchill, his contemporaries, or his political legacy, and
should address the issues raised by the idea of the 'three circles'. Was
the concept a genuine insight into the 'trilemma' of British foreign
policy, or a mere rhetorical construct designed to distract attention
from
the realities of imperial collapse? How did other politicians contest
or
adapt it for their own purposes? And what lessons, if any, can be learnt
by
examining the perspectives of the Churchill era?
The submission of papers responding to these guidelines is open to graduate
students from any university. To be considered, the applications should
include a paper proposal no longer than 350 words, a brief academic CV,
and
a cover letter providing the following details: current institution; name
of PhD supervisor; year of graduate research; general topic of the PhD.
All
these materials should be submitted in English to the conference
coordinator, Matteo Lodevole, [email protected], by 7 May 2007.
Notification of acceptance will be made by early June. Only 12 posts are
available and the competition is expected to be extremely fierce.
Successful applicants will have to email their papers (5,000 to 10,000
words) by 5 October 2007. The papers will be then circulated to all
participants and may be made available on a conference webpage.
The Churchill Archives Centre will not be able to fully fund the travel
and
accommodation expenses of all participants, but accepted applicants may
apply for a partial bursary towards covering their costs.
The conference sessions will be chaired by prominent experts in the field.
Each panel will also have a discussant with the task of providing critical
feedback and engaging the floor in a stimulating