The BritGrad 2020 Call For Papers has now reopened!

BritGrad is an interdisciplinary conference which provides a friendly and stimulating academic forum in which graduate students can present their research, hear plenaries from world-renowned academics and interact with each other. The conference usually takes place in an active hub for early modern research: The Shakespeare Institute, part of the University of Birmingham, based in Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. Whilst the members of the 2020 committee regret that we are not in a position to welcome you to Stratford-upon-Avon in person this year, we have been working hard to find a way of bringing BritGrad to you.

We are delighted to announce that this year will take the form of an online BritGrad Festival, celebrating the diverse range of scholarship, creativity and pedagogy that contributes to our understanding of early modern drama, performance, culture and more. Graduate students from across the world are welcomed to present on a diverse range of topics including, but not limited to, theatre history, performance studies, textual studies, pedagogy, theatre technology, and early modern culture. In addition to the more traditional presentations, we warmly welcome proposals for seminars, online play readings and performances, film screenings, creative and practical workshops, podcasts and anything else that might contribute to celebrating – and indeed interrogating – what the terms ‘Shakespeare’, ‘early modern’ and ‘Renaissance’ mean to us. Over the course of the week, we will also be offering a series of events involving plenary speakers who are world experts in these fields. We will be announcing our updated plenary speaker programme in the coming weeks.

We have always been committed to continuing BritGrad’s legacy as a truly international and diverse conference for students from a range of backgrounds and disciplines, promoting a positive ethos of collaboration and interdisciplinarity. While an online BritGrad Festival will be very different to the face-to-face conferences held since BritGrad began in 1999, our hope is that the virtual event will allow graduates from all corners of the world to engage in a vibrant community of likeminded scholars, practitioners and creatives, and to celebrate one another’s work – all from the safety and comfort of our own homes and workspaces.

These are challenging times for us all. We stand in solidarity with our fellow graduates from across the globe and will not be charging any fees to participate in BritGrad Festival 2020.

One event which cannot be overlooked is the now legendary BritGrad party which traditionally takes place in Stratford-upon-Avon on the second evening of the conference. We will be hosting an online party during the festival as well as a virtual pre-festival ‘meet and greet’ on the evening of Sunday 13th September (details of both to follow).

For more information you can find us online here:

• Website: www.britgrad.com

• Twitter: www.twitter.com/britgrad

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/_britgrad

• Facebook:www.facebook.com/BritGradConference

Proposals can take the following forms:

• We welcome abstracts of 200 words proposing research papers that are up to 20 minutes in length.

• We accept proposals for practical or creative forms of criticism, such as original writing, performance, podcasts, or creative and practical workshops that last no more than 20 minutes in length. Again, the proposal for these contributions should take the form of anabstract of 200 words.

• We accept proposals for panels made up of three papers, each 20 minutes in length. An abstract of 200 words for each paper is required, along with a title and rationale of 100 words for the panel.

• We accept proposals for seminars, which will be given a one-hour time slot. The seminar leader will be responsible for recruiting participants and will submit an abstract of 200 words, along with a list of participants, a seminar title and a rationale of 100 words for the seminar. For more information on seminars, please see our FAQ page.

• For non-seminar events that will last longer than 20 minutes, such as film screenings, play readings and live performances, please submit an abstract of 200 words, along with a title and a rationale of 100 words for the event.

As we explore the possibilities of online conferencing, we are keener than ever to try out new ways of sharing and engaging with the global research community. If you feel you have something suitable that doesn’t fit into the above categories, please get in touch with us. We are always eager to welcome diverse perspectives.

Undergraduate students in their final two years of study are very welcome to attend the festival as auditors (non-speakers).

The deadline for proposals is 13:00 BST on Monday 20th July 2020 to be submitted to [email protected]

Abstract Prize:

Every year BritGrad awards a prize for the best abstract, with the winner being awarded £100. We are delighted to confirm that this will continue for BritGrad Festival 2020 and accepted abstracts will be put forward for the award.

Pricing and registration:

It is free to participate in BritGrad Festival 2020. Presenters and event organisers will be notified of acceptance in time to register by Monday 17thAugust. Registration for auditors will remain open until Monday 31st August. We strongly encourage early registration for auditors to secure a place.

Contact details:

• For abstract submissions, please email our registrar, Laryssa Schoeck, at [email protected].

• For general enquiries, please contact our secretary, Saraya Haddad, at [email protected].

• For more specific enquiries, please contact our chair, Jodie Smith, at [email protected].