The London Victorian Studies Colloquium
The London Victorian Studies Colloquium: A Residential Postgraduate Weekend
7th-9th April 2017, Royal Holloway Victorian Studies Centre, University of London
Supported by Royal Holloway Department of English and the TECHNE AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership
The London Victorian Studies Colloquium is an annual weekend residential colloquium for postgraduates and postdocs working in Victorian Studies, to be held at Royal Holloway Victorian Studies Centre on 7-9 April 2017. This is a relatively informal weekend of postgraduate papers, reading groups and professionalisation workshops, allowing generous spaces also for participants to socialise and study in the beautiful surroundings of the college and including a viewing of the Victorian art collection in the Royal Holloway picture gallery. Places were allocated on a first come first served basis and the colloquium was open to Masters, doctoral students and postdocs from the UK or abroad. A few undergraduates who are going on to postgraduate study were also allowed to attend. Participants do not have to present a paper or lead a workshop; contributions of this kind are voluntary.
This year’s event was themed around the heritage and cultural industries, opening with a panel of eminent speakers from these sectors who described their career paths – Sonia Solicari (Director of the Geffrye Museum), Cindy Sughrue OBE (Director of the Charles Dickens Museum and former Chief Exec of the Scottish Ballet) and Alex Werner (Curator, Museum of London). This was attended by Professor Helen Nicholson (RHUL VP for Research Impact). The weekend was led by Juliet John (Royal Holloway) as Centre Director, aided by Rosie White, the Assistant Director of the Centre and a TECHNE-funded PhD student from Royal Holloway English Department. Also in attendance to lead chair sessions were Dr Matthew Bradley of the University of Liverpool and Dr Patricia Pulham of the University of Portsmouth. Speakers came from a variety of different disciplines and institutions: Tessa Kilgarriff (AHRC collaborative doctoral award student from the National Portrait Gallery and the University of Bristol) spoke on theatrical prints and adapting doctoral research for exhibition; Jennifer Moriaty (Birkbeck) presented on Victorian realism and spiritualism through the stereoscope (bringing a stereoscope with her); Alizee Cordes (University of Clermont-Auvergne) talked about interior decoration and the Gothic Revival in French and British decorative arts in the nineteenth century and Tamsin Evernde (RHUL) gave delegates an insight into the relationship between her career as a Victorian paintings expert at Christie’s and her subsequent PhD research on Dickens. Ceylan Kosker (Aberystwyth) led a lively reading group around her PhD research on the remarkable life and writings of Violet Fane.
The weekend was heavily subsidised and TECHNE students were able to attend free of charge.
The links here are to the conference report, produced by a delegate and to Twitter feedback compiled by Rosie White: