BACS Conference, 20-22 April 2023 - Call for Papers

The BACS Conference will take place in-person in London from 20 to 22 April 2023.

Registration is required and tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite. 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bacs-conference-20-22-april-2023-tickets-524881533797  

CANADA AT HOME AND ABROAD 

The theme of the 2023 conference is ‘Canada at home and abroad’ and papers on any aspect of Canada and the teaching and promotion of Canadian Studies are welcome, including the history, politics, literature, culture, and indigenous peoples of Canada and the individual provinces and territories within Canada.  Papers that focus on Canada’s relationships with other countries, and comparisons between Canada and other countries, are also welcome. 

Proposals for panels are especially welcome.

The conference will take place at Senate House, University of London, in the famous Bloomsbury district of central London. It will commence on Thursday 20 April at 2.00pm with registration and finish at 3.00pm, after the BACS AGM, on Saturday 22 April. 

Unfortunately it will not be possible to include online presentations as part of the conference or to attend the conference online. But proposals for online papers and panels will be considered for the BACS-UCL online events programme that takes place throughout the year.  

Conference proposals for presentations of individual papers (15-20 minutes long) or full panels (3/4 papers) should be sent to Tony McCulloch (BACS President) accompanied by an outline of each paper (100-200 words) and a brief bio of the presenter/s (100-200 words each). Any limitation on the attendance of the presenter/s should also be included so that individual and panel presentations can be timetabled on the most convenient day of the conference – either Friday 21 April or Saturday 22 April.  

The initial deadline for paper proposals is Tuesday 28 February.  

Early submission of panel and paper proposals is encouraged.

Proposals to be sent to: tony.mcculloch@ucl.ac.uk by 28 February (initial deadline)

It is intended to produce an initial conference programme in early March so paper proposals are requested to be sent in by 28 February. A decision on individual and panel proposals will usually be made by the conference committee within 3 days of receipt.  

Proposals received after 28 February will still be considered, subject to availability of space within the programme, but preference will be given to proposals received by that date. 

ACCOMMODATION

Accommodation is not included in the charge for attending the conference (see charges below). The recommended hotel is the Tavistock Hotel, which is very near to Senate House, but there are many other hotels and guest houses in the area, including other hotels in the Imperial Group.  

https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/  

Other nearby budget hotels include the Premier Inn and Travelodge, as well as a wide range of guest houses and more expensive hotels. 

CONFERENCE OUTLINE - 20-22 APRIL 2023

The first session of the conference, commencing 2.00pm, on Thursday 20 April will consist of a roundtable entitled ‘Constructing Canadian Identity from Abroad: How Externality Influences an Understanding of Canada’. The roundtable will be chaired by Christopher Kirkey (Director, Center for the Study of Canada, SUNY, Plattsburgh) and includes Christina Keppie (Professor of French and Linguistics, Western Washington University), Steven Hayward (Professor and Chair of English Department, Colorado College), Andrew Ives (Professor of North American Studies, Université de Caen Normandie), and Anne Trépanier (Associate Professor, School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies & Department of French, Carleton University, Ottawa). 

This will be followed by the Eccles Lecture, sponsored by the Eccles Centre at the British Library and the Canada-UK Foundation, based at Canada House, entitled: ‘The Secrets of Mary Boyd: Sex, Scandal, and the Control of Women's Bodies in Toronto in 1868’ and delivered by Jane McGaughey (Associate Professor and Johnson Chair of Quebec and Canadian Studies in the School of Irish Studies at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec). 

A wine reception will follow. 

Friday 21 April will include a Quebec lunchtime reception, and the award of the Prix de la Délégation générale du Québec à Londres, as well as a wide range of conference panels, including one on Québec and the United States, entitled 'The Québec-United States Relationship: Political, Security, Economic, Cultural and Environmental Dynamics', featuring Christopher Kirkey (Director, Center for the Study of Canada, SUNY, Plattsburgh),  Stéphane Paquin (ÉNAP) and Frédérick Gagnon (UQÀM).

The conference dinner will take place on Friday evening, provisionally at the nearby Ambassadors Hotel (tbc). 

Several more conference panels are planned to take place on the morning of Saturday 22 April, followed by the BACS AGM, after lunch. The conference is scheduled to end at about 3.00pm. 

Registration is required and tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite. 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bacs-conference-20-22-april-2023-tickets-524881533797  

BACS CONFERENCE FEES, 2023 AND CANCELLATION POLICY

Full conference package, including refreshments, lunches and at least one wine reception (but not BACS membership or the conference dinner) - £190.00 (£95.00 concessions).  

The concessionary rate applies to students, the unwaged and retirees.

Day rate - Thursday – £40.00 (£20.00 concessions);  

Day rate - Friday, not including conference dinner- £100.00 (concessions £50.00);

Day rate - Saturday - £60.00 (concessions £30.00) 

Conference dinner - £50.00 (Friday evening at nearby Ambassadors Hotel, location to be confirmed)

FULL REFUNDS FOR CANCELLATION UP UNTIL 31 MARCH 2023

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bacs-conference-20-22-april-2023-tickets-524881533797