Categories
Events Featured NWIMS Past Events Postgraduate

New Work in Modernist Studies, Friday 11 December 2020: registration and programme

About the conference
The tenth one-day graduate conference on New Work in Modernist Studies will take place online on Friday 11 December 2020, in conjunction with the Modernist Network Cymru (MONC), the London Modernism Seminar, the Scottish Network of Modernist Studies, the Northern Modernism Seminar, the Midlands Modernist Network and the British Association for Modernist Studies (BAMS).

BAMS is dedicated to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion (please see our Code of Conduct).

Click for the programme.

Registration
Please complete the registration form.  This applies whether you are presenting or simply planning to watch and listen in.  We welcome attendees.

Applicants and delegates are encouraged to let us know about any access needs they might have, and if we are able to make adjustments to the application or presentation process, we will endeavour to do so.

Questions about the event should be sent to nwims@bams.ac.uk.

Advertisement
Categories
Featured News

BAMS statement on Black Lives Matter

We at BAMS recognise that more needs to be done to counter the whiteness of academia and of modernism studies, and that we need to do more.

In February 2020, The Higher Education Statistics Agency reported that fewer than 1% of professors employed at UK universities are black, whilst 85% are white. A recent report by Universities UK and the National Union of Students found that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)* students are more likely to drop out of university and are significantly less likely to graduate with a 2.1 or first class degree than white students. The attainment gap is particularly stark for black students. 

We recognise that the existing structure and environment of academia makes it an unsustainable place for many people of colour. Fine words and expressions of solidarity are not enough. We will be engaging in the following actions to counter the institutional racism that is embedded within British academia and we urge our colleagues – particularly white colleagues – to engage in them as well.

Within BAMS we will:

  • Be unflinching in our assessment of white modernism’s chequered history of racism, colonial exploitation and cultural appropriation, alongside the complicity of both modernist authors and texts in structures of oppression.
  • Actively promote the inclusion of academics of colour: mentor and support PGRs, ECRs and colleagues in practical and concrete ways: invitations to publish, invitations to speak, invitations to collaborate.
  • Work to ensure equal opportunities in appointments and promotions within our institutions.
  • Call out racism in all its forms, including unconscious bias and micro-aggressions.
  • Keep a keen eye on white privilege and watch out for white fragility. Be alert to the insidious workings of unconscious bias.
  • Recognise that the practical, intellectual and emotional labour of much diversity work currently falls disproportionately to colleagues of colour, and that this needs to change.

Within Higher Education more widely we ask colleagues to: 

  • Decolonise the curriculum. Ensure that writers, critics and theorists of colour are fully embedded and integrated in our modules and programmes, and not just in a tokenistic way. Realise that this work needs to start with curriculums within schools as well as in higher education. 
  • Scrutinise BAME student admissions, progression and attainment. Challenge the BAME attainment gap. Actively mentor and support undergraduate students of colour.
  • Acknowledge the politics of citations. Quote and promote scholarly work by people of colour.

We realise that there is much room for improvement within BAMS as an association, and we are currently working on a programme of actions to address the above points. We welcome dialogue and discussion with colleagues. Our new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion representative is Juliette Taylor-Batty, who can be contacted at j.taylor-batty@leedstrinity.ac.uk.

 

* We understand that there are substantial differences between black and BAME experiences, but speak to the language used in the administration of UK Higher Education, which we recognise as lacking in nuance.

Categories
Call for submissions CFPs Essay Prize Featured Past Events Postgraduate Uncategorized

BAMS ESSAY PRIZE 2019

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: 31 JANUARY 2020

The British Association for Modernist Studies

Essay Prize 2019

The British Association for Modernist Studies invites submissions for its annual essay prize for early career scholars. The winning essay will be published in Modernist Cultures, and the winner will also receive £250 of books.

 The BAMS Essay Prize is open to any member of the British Association for Modernist Studies who is studying for a doctoral degree, or is within five years of receiving their doctoral award. You can join BAMS by following the link on our membership pages: https://bams.ac.uk/membership

Essays are to be 7-9,000 words, inclusive of footnotes and references.

The closing date for entries is 31 January 2020. The winner will be announced in March 2020.

Essays can be on any subject in modernist studies (including anthropology, art history, cultural studies, ethnography, film studies, history, literature, musicology, philosophy, sociology, urban studies, and visual culture). Please see the editorial statement of Modernist Cultures for further information: http://www.euppublishing.com/journal/mod.

In the event that, in the judges’ opinion, the material submitted is not of a suitable standard for publication, no prize will be awarded.

 Instructions to Entrants

Entries must be submitted electronically in Word or rtf format to modernistcultures@gmail.com and conform to the MHRA style guide.

Entrants should include a title page detailing their name, affiliation, e-mail address, and their doctoral status/ date of award; they should also make clear that the essay is a submission for the BAMS Essay Prize.

 It is the responsibility of the entrant to secure permission for the reproduction of illustrations and quotation from copyrighted material.

Essays must not be under consideration elsewhere.

Enquiries about the prize may be directed to Tim Armstrong, Chair of the British Association for Modernist Studies, at T.Armstrong@rhul.ac.uk

Categories
CFPs Events Featured NWIMS Past Events Postgraduate

New Work in Modernist Studies, Liverpool, 6 December

About the conference
The ninth one-day graduate conference on New Work in Modernist Studies will take place on Friday 6 December at the University of Liverpool, in conjunction with the Modernist Network Cymru (MONC), the London Modernism Seminar, the Scottish Network of Modernist Studies, the Northern Modernism Seminar, the Midlands Modernist Network and the British Association for Modernist Studies (BAMS).

BAMS is dedicated to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion. As in previous years, this conference will take the form of an interdisciplinary programme reflecting the full diversity of current graduate work in modernist studies; it encourages contributions both from those already involved in the existing networks and from students new to modernist studies who are eager to share their work.

The day, which also marks this semester’s relaunch of the Northern Modernism Seminar, will include a plenary session with Dr Beryl Pong (Sheffield) and will close with a discussion of the ‘new modernism’, for which we’ll be joined by writers and publishers including Chris McCabe (Dedalus, 2018) and Galley Beggar Press. This will be followed by a drinks reception.

Proposals
Proposals are invited, from PhD students registered at British and Irish universities, for short (10 minutes maximum) research position papers. Your proposal should be no longer than 250 words, and please include with it a short (50 words) biography. If you wish to apply for a contribution to your travel expenses please also include an estimate of travel costs with your proposal (see below for details).

Proposals should be sent to sophie.oliver@liverpool.ac.uk, to which any other enquiries about the conference can also be addressed.

Deadline: Friday 25 October.

Acceptance decisions will be communicated within seven days.

Applicants and delegates are encouraged to let us know about any access needs they might have, and if we are able to make adjustments to the application or presentation process, we will endeavour to do so.

Registration
Conference registration will open soon. The conference fee is £25 (£15 for BAMS members) and includes lunch, coffee and a wine reception.

Bursaries
It is anticipated that a subsidised contribution to all travel costs over £20 will be offered to all postgraduates who present a paper at the conference. This means that we will aim to pay the amount that remains after the first £20, for which you will be responsible. (If your travel expenses are less than £20 we will not be able to contribute.) Please note that funds are limited and our ability to contribute depends on your co-operation in finding the cheapest fares. To apply for a travel bursary please include a separate indication of your estimated travel costs with your proposal. This will not be taken into account when assessing your proposal.

Categories
Featured

Participate: BAMS postgraduate survey, 2016/17

We’ll be presenting your feedback at English Shared Futures this summer in Newcastle – and using it to help decide the future of BAMS. Let us know your thoughts!