BSECS

Need more #18thC in your life??
OF COURSE YOU DO!

Click below for an incredible programme of events from our friends @cecs-york.bsky.social
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

www.york.ac.uk/eighteenth-c...

Welcome Emily! We're all looking forward to meeting you!
#skystorians #18thC

***DEADLINE EXTENSION TO THE 2 MARCH***
We are extending the deadline for applications for the #BSECS-BECC award to the 2 March.
£400 to support research using Birmingham's extensive #18thC resources held across the city

@unibirmingham.bsky.social #skystorians

www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/cen...

Inspired by the #BSECS2026 talk on the fabulous "Three Thousand Dishes on a Georgian Table, 1788-1813" data compiled by @historybeagle.bsky.social and team, I pulled together this website:

threethousanddishes.hubers.org.uk

It is such a fun dataset to explore!
@bsecs.bsky.social #c18th #foodhistory

Come join us in Marseille this September for our @bsecs.bsky.social PGR ECR conference - details below ⬇️

Such a brilliant theme of Improvement, Degeneration, Stagnation - looking forward to reading the submissions 👏

Lead Curator: Modern Archives & Manuscripts (1601 – 1800) at British Library Explore an exciting academic career as a Lead Curator: Modern Archives & Manuscripts (1601 – 1800). Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

JOB ALERT: Lead Curator, Modern Archives & Manuscripts (1601-1800) at The British Library - closing date: 18th Feb

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQH179/l...

#BSECS @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social Career Development Fellowship
£1050 to fund expenses associated with a defined research output or impact (including childcare & costs associated with publication) which supports the fellow's career development
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

#BSECS-GeorgianPapers Fellowship
£1,000 to support a project that draws on the resources of the Georgian Papers Programme on any topic in the study of the Georgian period (1714-1837)
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

#BSECS-Bodleian Fellowship
1 month residence in Oxford to support research @bodleian.ox.ac.uk on any topic in the study of the long #18thC
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

Dunscombe-Colt Fellowship with @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
1 month research visit by a member of The Georgian Group to the Special Collections at the Bodleian on projects relating to the architecture or material culture (for example, sculpture) of the long #18thC (1660-1840)
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

#BSECS-BECC @unibirmingham.bsky.social #fellowship
£400 to support research using Birmingham's #18thC resources at the Cadbury Research Library, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Library of Birmingham, Birmingham Museum Trust, Soho House, Think Tank & the Assay Office
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

Did you know that we award SEVEN #fellowships, five of which have #deadlines of the ***1 FEBRUARY 2026***
#skystorians #18thC🗃️
Details can be found on our website or in the thread 🔽

www.bsecs.org.uk/prizes-and-a...

A reminder to any @bsecs.bsky.social ECRs out there that we are looking for a new research fellow to join the Georgian Lords at @histparl.bsky.social.
Details of how to apply below:
www.histparl.ac.uk/news/history...

British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies Postgraduate and Early Career Researcher Conference Improvement Degeneration Stagnation University of Montpellier 3-4 September 2026 Paul-Valery

We invite proposals for papers for this year’s collaborative Postgraduate and Early Career Researcher Conference between the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, the Société d’Études Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles and the Société Française d’Études du XVIIIe siècle, held at the University of Montpellier Paul-Valéry. Topics considering improvement, degeneration and stagnation could include, but are not limited to: · The materiality of any of, or all, these terms · Social, economic, moral and physical wellbeing · Medical perspectives, including the development of psychiatric and psychological medicine and alternate (pseudo-)scientific endeavours such as alchemy or spiritualism · Ideas around taste, attitudes, values and class, both in the social and literary domains · Debates and evolutions regarding language · National identities and comparisons · The pace of improvement and/or degeneration · Science, innovation and the improvement of knowledge · Colonisation and slavery · Religion, secularisation and Enlightenment thought · Gender, sexuality and the perception of the female body · Conceptions of improvement or degeneration in art, design and architecture; as well as in literature and philosophy · The notion of change and teleological narratives of progress · The ambiguities surrounding the notion of progress and the uncertain boundaries between improvement, stagnation and degeneration All submissions should be sent to montpellierconference2026@gmail.com for consideration. Submissions can be in either French or English. For individual papers, please send abstracts of 250 words and a short biography. For fully formed panels, (3-4 speakers), roundtables or workshops please send abstracts of 250 words for each paper along with brief details of the proposed theme, biographies of speakers, and proposed chair. CFP opens 7th January 2026 and closes 13th March 2026.

En lien avec le rôle joué par Montpellier dans le développement des connaissances médicales en Europe, le colloque de cette année étudiera les notions de progrès, de dégénérescence et de stagnation. Nous invitons les participants à interpréter les termes de progrès, de dégénérescence et de stagnation de façon large, sans restrictions géographiques, étymologiques ou conceptuelles. Les propositions pourront s’intéresser aux questions suivantes: · La matérialité de ces termes · Le bien-être social, moral et économique · Les perspectives médicales, incluant le développement de la médecine psychologique ou psychiatrique et des (pseudo-)sciences comme le spiritualisme ou l’alchimie · La question du goût, des mentalités, des valeurs et des distinctions entre groupes, tant dans le domaine social que littéraire · Les débats et évolutions concernant le langage · Les identités et comparaisons nationales · Le rythme du progrès et/ou de la dégénérescence · Science, innovation et développement des savoirs · Exploitation coloniale et esclavage · Religion, sécularisation et pensée des Lumières · Genre, sexualité et perception du corps féminin · Conception du progrès et de la dégénérescence dans l’art, le design et l’architecture · La notion de changement et la vision téléologique du progrès · Les ambiguïtés autour de la notion de progrès et les frontières incertaines entre le progrès, la dégénérescence et la stagnation Les propositions de communication, en français ou en anglais, sont à envoyer à l’adresse montpellierconference2026@gmail.com, sous la forme d’un résumé de 250 mots assorti d’une courte biobibliographie. Les propositions d’ateliers, de tables rondes ou de séances complètes (entre 3 et 4 intervenants) doivent être accompagnées d’un résumé pour chaque proposition et d’une courte présentation du thème, des intervenants, et du/de la président.e de séance pressenti.e. Les propositions sont à envoyer avant le 13 mars 2026.

You may only just have recovered from #BSECS2026, but our hardworking reps are already planning our #PGR #ECR conference, University of Montpellier Paul-Valery, 3-4 September 2026 on 'Improvement, Degeneration, Stagnation'
Deadline for submissions: 13 March 2026
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

Ann was an enthusiastic and distinguished historian of London and for thirty-five years the Society’s Honorary Editor. In that capacity she helped many scholars to achieve publication of their work.

Full details can be found here: londontopsoc.org/about-us/ann...

#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

The London Topographical Society funds £1,000 prize in honour of the late Dr Ann Saunders (1930–2019) for an original research essay on the topography, development or buildings of London in any period.

8,000 word submissions should be made by 1 April 2026.
#skystorians #18thC #londonhistory 🗃️

‪Thank you to all of you who made #BSECS2026 such a success.

271 delegates
21 pre-formed panels
8 roundtables
5 alternative sessions
144 individual papers

= 1 incredible conference

We are already hard at work planning #BSECS2027 @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social
See you there?!
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️

It's just a couple of weeks now until the ASLE-UKI Online Seminar on Eighteenth-Century Literature and Environment, on Thursday 29 Jan 2026, 3-7 pm GMT. All welcome! Further details and FREE registration information at: asle.org.uk/events/semin...
@asleuki.bsky.social @bsecs.bsky.social

Painting of George Canning as a young man, c.1780s

To my George Canning aficionados: I’m thinking about what to do for the anniversary of his death in 2027 (other than get my book out)

Any suggestions? More than happy for people/organisations to reach out - please share with any contacts @bsecs.bsky.social

#heritage #publicengagement #media #18thc

18th-centuryists! I'm looking for two reviewers to take on this bevy of daddy issues for @bsecs.bsky.social Criticks; if anyone is interested in writing about Amadeus (2026) or Frankenstein (2025), please drop me a DM or email (email contact is in the archive here: www.bsecs.org.uk/criticks-rev...)

Had a great time in Oxford last week attending the @bsecs.bsky.social annual #conference! Always so happy to share my research on gorgeous #18thCentury Finnish petticoats and meet lovely new people along the way. #DressHistory #BSECS

Started the new year with the traditional trip to @bsecs.bsky.social and this might’ve been my favourite one yet!
Absolutely loved the theme, and so nice to see the usual faces (and meet new ones) ✍🏻☕️
Grateful to @sarahfoxhistory.bsky.social for chairing and to everyone who attended the panel 🫶🏼

Please join us to discuss detached pieces, single leaves, and un/bound forms, and mark the publication of The Book Unbound @universitypress.cambridge.org

Friday 30 January, Senate House, University of London
@ies-sas.bsky.social

@bars.bsky.social, @bsecs.bsky.social
please spread the word

Deadline approaching!

Pls RT!

CALL FOR PAPERS

“Embodied Knowledge Practices in the Early Modern World”

Conference at the University of Amsterdam ~ Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies

Monday, 15 June 2026

1/6

@asecsoffice.bsky.social @bsecs.bsky.social @thebsls.bsky.social

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the panel "SOMETHING BREWING"! Grateful to my brilliant fellow panellists and our fantastic moderator Jasmin for such a thoughtful discussion. 🙏 #BSECS2026

Steps towards identifying new Black voters in 18th-century Westminster and Hertfordshire - The History of Parliament A few months ago, the History welcomed a guest post by Dr Gillian Williamson with her groundbreaking research into John London, to date the earliest known

#ICYMI earlier this week, Robin Eagles of the Georgian Lords posted on uncovering the lives of Black Londoners, among them one who almost certainly joined John London in voting in the 1749 Westminster by-election:
historyofparliament.com/2026/01/05/s...
#HistParl #BSECS2026

It's been a great few days at BSECS. I presented a paper on Eden and Restoration politics in Lucy Hutchinson's Order and Disorder and attended some excellent panels (I especially enjoyed the panel on mock epics and grand epics this morning).
#BSECS2026

Had a great time in Oxford for my first #BSECS2026. Thanks to @elementaladam.bsky.social for having me on and chairing the panel ‘Bodies Politic, Bodies Satiric: Satirical Embodiment in Georgian Britain and Ireland’ where I talked all things Fielding, drink, and Jacobite!

Lecture hall with three speakers at a desk

And that’s a rap on #BSECS2026 - a huge thanks to @fancyhistorian.bsky.social & @hardeepdhindsa.bsky.social for being boss co-organisers & to all the team @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social for their wonderful support for our annual conference. See you all next year!

BSECS 2026, Day Three reviewed. Oh that sound, that saddest sound of the young year! Trundle trundle trundle. Trundle trundle trundle trundle. The sound of the wheeled suitcase against cobblestone denoting the final day of an aca…

BSECS 2026, Day Three reviewed. #BSECS2026 conradbrunstrom.wordpress.com/2026/01/10/b...