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British Association for American Studies (BAAS) Conference 2026
Thu, 02 Oct 2025 17:20:00 BST
Seminars 2024-25
SEMESTER TWO SEMINARS 2025-26
Andrew Hook Centre Seminar Series, Spring 2026.
Thursday, 5 February, 5:15pm (Humanities Research Hub, 1 University Gardens, Room 102) (joint event with War Studies)
Dr David Fitzgerald (Cork), “Uncertain Warriors: the United States Army between the Cold War and the War on Terror”.
Wednesday 11th, 2026, 4pm (the McKechnie Room, 10 University Gardens)
Dr. Oli Charbonneau (Glasgow) "The Militarized Origins of American Ethnography" (NB. This is a work in progress seminar. If you would like to attend please write to me so that I can pre-circulate the paper.)
Wednesday 4th March, 2026, 4pm (CTT ADAM SMITH:588AB) (joint event with War Studies)
Dr. Shaul Mitelpunkt (York University), “'At Ease: Americans and the Dilemma of Military Service.”
Wednesday 11th March, 2026, 4pm (CTT WOLFSON MED:248 GANNOCHY)
Dr. Jason Lee (DeMontfort University), “Extremism, Democracy and Media: Tackling Conspiracy Theories in America and Beyond.” CANCELLED
Thursday 19th March, 2026, 4pm (CTT WOLFSON MED:248 GANNOCHY)
Dr. Diana Lemberg (St. Andrews), “United States Investments in Foreign Language Learning.”
Thursday 8 to Saturday 11: BAAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Full programme to follow
Saturday 11 April, 2026, 10:45-11:45: GORDON LECTURE (Boyd Orr A)
Professor Simon Newman (Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison), “Fighting for freedom, 1776-2026.”
SEMESTER ONE SEMINARS 2025-26
Wednesday 1 October, 3:00-4:30pm, Room 202, 4 University Gardens
Professor Sinéad Moynihan (University of Exeter), ‘“For Export Only”: Irish Writers and U.S. Magazines, 1940-75’
This talk is drawn from the larger project, “For Export Only”: Irish Writers and U.S. Magazines, 1940-1975, which uncovers the extent, variety and significance of Irish writers’ contributions, mostly fiction and travel writing, to U.S. magazines at mid-century. Focusing on Mademoiselle (1935-2001), the magazine for “smart young women,” this paper traces the proliferation of Irish fiction in its pages during the 1940s and 1950s. At first glance, such stories appear to fall into two categories: “Anglo-Irish” in subject matter and/or authorial background (Mary Manning, Elizabeth Bowen, Joyce Cary) and “Hiberno-Irish” (Seán O’Faoláin, Liam O’Flaherty, Bryan MacMahon, Frank O’Connor), with childhood and/or coming-of-age the dominant themes across both categories. However, such a neat overview fails to acknowledge the ways in which the meanings suggested by several of the works are complicated by their illustrations, challenging readers primed by content published elsewhere in the magazine to expect its “Irish stories” to fit a certain mould. Of mid-twentieth century Irish literature, Eve Patten asks: “where has the persuasive ‘national’ label on Ireland’s literary output obscured the impact of alternative spatial and political formations – trans-local and transatlantic, cross-continental and cross-border – in the shaping of Irish literary tradition?” By identifying how mid-twentieth century Irish prose was written, sold, circulated and illustrated in a transatlantic magazine marketplace, this paper provides one answer to that question.
Sinéad Moynihan is Professor in American and Atlantic Studies at the University of Exeter. She has published widely on American, Irish and transatlantic literatures in Éire-Ireland, Modern Drama, MELUS, American Literary History, Studies in the Novel and other journals. She is also the author of three monographs, the most recent of which – Ireland, Migration and Return Migration: The “Returned Yank” in the Cultural Imagination, 1952 to present (Liverpool UP, 2019) – was awarded the Michael J. Durkan Prize for Books on Language and Culture by the American Conference for Irish Studies. Her current book project, “For Export Only”: Irish Writers and U.S. Magazines, 1940-1975, is supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (2025-26).
Wednesday 8 October, 4.30-6.00pm
Hook Centre Welcome Event, Humanities Hub, 1 University Gardens
The Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies warmly invites you to our Welcome Event for this year, to be held in the Humanities Hub, 1 University Gardens, 4.30pm-6pm on Wednesday 8th October. All are welcome, and we particularly invite PGT and PGR students so that we have a chance to connect with everyone working on an aspect of the United States at the University.
Wednesday 22 October, 2.30-4.00pm, Room 331, Wolfson Medical Building
Rowena Palacios (University of Edinburgh): Title TBC
Wednesday 12 November, Time and Place TBC
Nathan Corden (University of Birmingham): 'The World Awheel: Americans in the First Global Bicycle Age'
Thursday 20 November, Yudowitz Seminar Theatre, Time TBC
Bradley Simpson (University of Connecticut): Title TBC
ASSISTANT/PHD POSITION IN BRITISH OR AMERICAN LITERATURE (100%)
ASSISTANT/PHD POSITION IN BRITISH OR AMERICAN LITERATURE (100%) STARTING DATE: 1 AUGUST 2026
The Institute of English Studies at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is looking to hire a full-time assistant / doctoral student for a four-year teaching and research position, with the possibility of a fifth year. The candidate will be expected to teach between two and four hours a semester, and to write a dissertation under the supervision of Patrick Vincent (https://www.unine.ch/anglais/biographie/patrick-vincent).
Profile
Candidates should have completed an M.A. degree in English or Comparative Literature or be near completion. They should have an excellent track record in literary studies and write well in English; digital skills, alongside knowledge of French and / or German, are also welcome.
We encourage candidates with a demonstrated research interest in one of the following, or in a similar area: the long Romantic period; William and / or Dorothy Wordsworth; Lord Byron; Mary and / or Percy Shelley; John Ruskin; H.D. Thoreau; nineteenth-century material culture; travel literature; cultural exchanges between Great Britain, the Continent and America; the cultural history of the Alps; literature and political theory; literature and the environment; and twentieth-century American poetry.
Responsibilities
Half of our doctoral assistants’ workload is dedicated to researching and writing a doctoral thesis. In addition to light administrative duties, assistants are also required to teach one or two sections of our first-year “Literature and Writing Workshop” every semester (2 or 4h per week), which focuses on close analysis of texts and composition.
Conditions
The position is renewed yearly, based on the successful fulfilment of work duties and the satisfactory progress of the thesis. The starting monthly salary is CHF 5’381.50.
Workplace
The Institute of English Studies at the University of Neuchâtel is a small but vibrant community of researchers, teachers, and students devoted to the study of English linguistics and literature. We offer B.A.- and M.A.-level programs in English, and we participate in the Swiss CUSO doctoral school. For more on the Institute, click here: https://www.unine.ch/anglais/home.html.
Neuchâtel is a pleasant town in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, tucked in between a lake and the Jura mountains. For more on the University and town of Neuchâtel, click here: https://www.unine.ch/etudier/choose/neuchatel.
Application
- a cover letter explaining why you are interested in the position, your research interests, and a doctoral project.
- a C.V. with an academic reference who can be contacted.
- an academic transcript.
- a writing sample (e.g. an academic essay or, if relevant, a published article).
Please submit your application by 1 May 2026
For questions and to submit your application, you may write to Patrick Vincent (patrick.vincent@unine.ch)
Roosevelt Institute for American Studies International PhD Seminar (Middelburg, the Netherlands) on 17-19 June 2026.
Sun, 25 Jan 2026 15:41:00 GMT
Hook Centre Welcome Event: Wednesday 8th October, 16:30-18:00
Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:05:00 BST
27th Scottish Association for the Study of America annual conference
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 16:37:00 BST
Seminars in Semester 2: January to May 2025
Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:19:00 GMT
European Association for American Studies - British Association for American Studies
Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:31:00 GMT
The Challenge of Regulating the Virtual World: AI, The Internet and the Future
Tue, 10 Oct 2023 09:34:00 BST
Joe Ryan-Hume receives a Fulbright-Royal Society of Edinburgh Scholarship
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 15:31:00 GMT
Roosevelt Institute for American Studies (RIAS) International PhD seminar, 27-29 November 2024
Tue, 10 Sep 2024 15:41:00 BST
2019 Annual Gordon Lecture in American Studies
Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:41:00 GMT
Centre for American Studies Seminar Series 2018-19
Thu, 22 Nov 2018 11:50:00 GMT
14th annual Gordon Lecture in American Studies on 7 May 2014.
Wed, 07 May 2014 10:47:00 BST
14th annual Gordon Lecture in American Studies on 7 May 2014.
Semester 1 seminars 2024-25
Thursday 24 October, 5:00-6:30pm
Doug Rossinow will be talking on his forthcoming book Promised Land: The Worlds of American Zionism. The talk will take place in 42 Bute Gardens, LT916, at 5:00pm. All welcome!
Monday 4 November, 4.30-6.00pm
Trump v. Harris 2024: Making Sense of the US Presidential Election (Roundtable). Venue TBA.
Wednesday 13 November, 2.30-4.00pm
'The US Presidential Election: Cross-Disciplinary Responses'. A Teams round table in conjunction with Keele University's David Bruce Centre for the Study of the Americas.
Wednesday 20 November, 4.00-5.30pm
Christopher Tounsel (University of Washington) – Bounds of Blackness: African Americans, Sudan, and the Politics of Solidarity (Cornell UP, 2024). Online book talk, link forthcoming. Co-sponsored with the Global History research cluster.
Other events TBC, including pre- and post-Presidential Election roundtables.