BACLS 2021 Seminar Series

In 2021, BACLS is holding an online seminar series, free for members. Details of the events below.

Publishing in Academic Journals - 26th November 2021, 2pm - 3.30pm

Following our October seminar on academic book publishing, BACLS is running a seminar on publishing in academic journals. We have four guest speakers: Chris Louttit (English Studies), Melissa Schuh (C21), Martin Paul Eve (Open Library of Humanities) and Martin Goodhead (Alluvium). Their presentations will be followed by an open Q and A session. It is hoped that the seminar will be particularly relevant to postgraduate and early career scholars.

Academic Publishing Round Table - 22nd October 2021, 2pm - 3.30pm

In the fifth in our series of online seminars, we were joined by representatives from Bloomsbury, Edinburgh University Press, and Duke University Press, who gave advice and answer questions on publishing for PGRs and early career scholars.

This was the first of a series of seminars on publishing. Future events will explore in more detail the writing of book proposals (for monographs and edited collections), and advice on publishing in academic journals. We also plan to offer practical workshops in which BACLS researchers can share and receive feedback on their own abstracts and proposals.

Neoliberalism and Contemporary World Literature - 11th June 2021, 2pm - 3.30pm

Guest speakers: Sharae Deckard (University College, Dublin), Stephen Shapiro (Warwick) and Jenny Bavidge (Cambridge)

In the fourth in our series of online seminars, we were very pleased to welcome Sharae Deckard and Stephen Shapiro, editors of World Literature, Neoliberalism, and the Culture of Discontent, which won the BACLS Essay Collection Prize in 2020. Sharae and Stephen talked about their book and reflecting on the ways in which the contemporary situation developed since its publication in the light of, among other factors, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Brexit deal, the defeat of Donald Trump and the first few months of the Biden-Harris administration. The session was chaired by Jenny Bavidge, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Cambridge University.

Contemporary EDI Issues: Policy and Practice - 23rd April 2021, 2pm - 3.30pm

The third of the BACLS online seminars focussed on matters of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in all areas of our current (and future) work.The CfP we shared is below.

This is a good moment for BACLS members to reflect on EDI as a contemporary collective, to share concerns, problems, solutions and examples of good practice. Given the importance of EDI, our discussion on the day will include participants’ thoughts on the possibility of more focussed BACLS EDI workshops in future.

The session will be informal and discursive, but we are seeking 5-minute reflections / provocations on different issues pertaining to EDI in the contemporary moment. Such issues might include, but are not restricted to:

How contemporary literature helps us think about EDI issues, about inequality, marginality etc.
Interdisciplinary approaches (e.g. with Social Sciences)
Initiatives already in place (e.g. REF EDI statements; AHRC EDI Fellowships)
Peer reading, REF reading, citation trends and unconscious bias
The ways in which online working during Covid has highlighted existing EDI concerns and created new ones
Academic publishing: considerations to do with journal content, contributors, editors/reviewers and the editorial process, website accessibility
Using inclusive language
EDI concerns related to teaching (face-to-face and online)
Accessibility of academic events, networking and EDI
Specific EDI concerns for PGRs and EC researchers
The relationship between institutional statements on EDI and everyday practice at school, department or individual levels
Allyship and advocacy

You might prefer simply to suggest a question for group discussion.

Reflections on Research: The Pandemic and Beyond - 26th March 2021, 2pm - 3.30pm

The second of the BACLS online seminars focussed on research matters. The CfP we shared is below.

Just as we have been adapting our teaching practice in response to Covid restrictions, we are also having to consider the effects that the pandemic is having on our research – both in terms of what we are investigating and how we might go about conducting it. Given that the landscape is likely to change in permanent ways after the pandemic – in more hybrid (virtual/live) approaches to research activity, for example – this is a good moment for BACLS members to reflect on research matters as a contemporary collective, to share concerns, problems, solutions and examples of good practice.

The session will be informal and discursive, but we are seeking 5-minute reflections / provocations on different issues pertaining to research during and after the pandemic. Such issues might include, but are not restricted to:

Research networking virtually: challenges and solutions
Peer reading
Archival research: challenges and solutions
Changes to funding applications in an era of online or hybrid research activity
New ways of achieving public engagement and impact
Institutional responses to research challenges

You might prefer simply to suggest a question for group discussion.

Pandemic Pedagogies - 26th February 2021, 2pm - 3.30pm

The first event in BACLS 2021 Seminar Series addressed emerging best practices in pedagogy during the pandemic. The CfP we shared is below.

This year many BACLS members across the country have been trying out new teaching methods and adapting to digital classrooms - whether on Zoom, on online-learning platforms, or in socially distanced spaces on campus. However, inevitably, much of this pedagogical practice has been developed in isolation.

As another semester teaching online is upon us, it is a good time to reflect on the individual things we have each learned about online teaching practices as a contemporary collective. Those who are interested in sharing effective pedagogies and discussing some of the challenges of digital classrooms will meet on 26th February 2021 at 2pm - 3.30pm.

The session will be informal and discursive, but we are seeking 5-minute tool-sharing / provocations from people who have either:

An example of a technological tool or technique that has worked well or you are piloting this year.
Or, a particular challenge of teaching in a Pandemic.
Or, a question for discussion.