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The XIth David Nichol Smith Eighteenth Century Studies Conference: "The
Exotic"
26 - 28 March 2001, National Library, Canberra, Australia
After the resounding success of 1996, the David Nichol Smith Memorial
Conference will return to Canberra, hosted jointly by the Humanities
Research Centre and the National Library of Australia. It will once again
be an occasion for a meeting of the Australasian and Pacific Society for
Eighteenth-Century Studies (APSECS), with a view to consolidating the
interdisciplinary network between all those with an interest in the
Enlightenment and associated fields.
The theme of the conference is "The Exotic." The temporal scope is the long
eighteenth century (1680s - 1830s). This will be the first in a sequence of
conferences and events organized throughout 2001 as part of the HRC's theme
of "Enlightenment."
The conference invites its participants to rethink the idea, scope and
influence of the exotic in the long eighteenth century. The term "exotic"
can be construed broadly. (According to Dr Johnson, it encompasses anything
that conjures up notions of the "foreign" or "strange"). Papers can
therefore address topics related to the "exotic" in a non-geographical
sense, as well as those which traverse exoticism's more familiar
associations with far-flung geographical, imperial and Oriental domains.
The conference accompanies an exhibition at the National Library of
Australia entitled "Savage Liberty: Omai, Cook, and the Cult of the Pacific
in Eighteenth-Century Europe." We therefore particularly welcome papers
dealing with the cultural impact of eighteenth-century exploration and
colonization - in the Pacific and elsewhere.
In addition to leading scholars from Australia and New Zealand, speakers at
the conference may include Donna Andrew, Linda Colley, Joanna De Groot,
Robert Maccubbin, Martin Fitzpatrick, Jon Mee, Karen O'Brien, Patricia
Petrusewicz, Glynis Ridley, and Nick Rogers.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Proposals for papers addressing the theme of "The Exotic" are invited from
scholars working in English Literature, Art History, Gender and Women's
Studies, History and Philosophy, Social, Economic and Cultural History, and
other relevant disciplines. Especially welcome will be papers which are (a)
interdisciplinary in scope, (b) focus on the relationship between culture
and the visual arts, and (c) refer to the Australian and Pacific contexts.
Proposals for papers (of 25 minutes reading time) should consist of a 300
word abstract. Deadline for submission is 30 November 2000.
Replies and further questions should be addressed to Dr Christa Knellwolf,
Humanities Research Centre, ANU. Phone: (02) 6279 8963. Fax: (02) 6248
0054. Email: Christa.Knellwolf@anu.edu.au
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