Papers are invited for a major international, interdisciplinary conference to be held at Senate House, London, June 13-15th, 2013. Coinciding with the 60-year anniversary of the Coronation, this conference will explore the ways in which the ideal of a new (or second) Elizabethan age has been variously defined, promoted, and challenged in Britain and the Commonwealth. Following closely after the London Olympics and Jubilee celebrations, it will also offer a fitting opportunity to explore the ways in which these values continue to present themselves in contemporary definitions of national identity, culture, and character.

Papers are invited from a variety of critical and disciplinary perspectives. We particularly encourage contributions from those working in history, literature, politics, religion, music, theatre, film and television, cultural studies, sport, design, and visual art. Ideally, papers will engage with such informing themes as nostalgia, patriotism, heritage, progress, tradition, national character, and/or nation itself.

Possible areas of exploration include (but are certainly not limited to):

• The Festival of Britain

• The Arts Council and cultural policy

• Bloomsbury and Elizabethanism

• Church, Reformation, and devotion

• Jubilee and/or Coronation celebrations

• Everest, exploration, and adventure

• International receptions of New Elizabethanism

• History and modern historiography

• Constitutional definitions

• Political/cultural constructions of Commonwealth

• Power, duty, leadership, and gender

• Human rights and national values

• Class and social hierarchy

• Race, citizenship, and belonging

• Modern theatre and modern Britain

• National iconography and design

• Shakespeare in a new Elizabethan age

• Music and national tradition

• Sport and nation

• National cuisine

• Satire and subversion

• New Elizabethanism and popular culture

• Writing the state-of-the-nation

• National myth and/or ritual

Confirmed speakers include:

Michael Bogdanov

Edward Bond

Richard Eyre

Michael Hirst

Dr Scott Anthony (History, University of Cambridge)

Professor Arthur Aughey (Politics, University of Ulster)

Professor Stephen Banfield (Music, Bristol University)

Professor Vernon Bogdanor (Institute for Contemporary History, King’s College London)

Professor Rob Carson (English Literature, William and Hobart Smith)

Professor Becky Conekin (History, Yale University)

Dr Rob Gossedge (English Literature, Cardiff University)

Dr Ankhi Mukherjee (English Literature, University of Oxford)

Professor Helen Phillips (English Literature, Cardiff University)

David Prosser (Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada)

Professor Jeffrey Richards (Cultural History, Lancaster University)

Professor Paul Stevens (English Literature, University of Toronto)

Professor Heather Wiebe (Music, University of Virginia)

Professor Richard Wilson (Shakespeare Studies, Kingston University)

Ghislaine Wood (Senior Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum)