XmasCarolathon - Flickr

The pictures from yesterday's event are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55016450@N02/sets/72157628427291717/

You can still donate: https://www.justgiving.com/EASXmasCarolOutLoud

A final figure on the sum we raised will be posted shortly - it is going to be in the region of £650

The reading was a great success - thanks to all involved and particularly all who read. Well done to Ian Scott for winning the Raffle!

ChristmasCarolathon: TODAY!

It all begins at 9.15am in Samuel Alexander S1.5 with a full reading of 'A Christmas Carol'. 

We then move to the steps of the Town Hall and speak at the Christmas Markets.

At 2pm there will be a matinee read through at the Friends' Meeting House on Mount Street, followed by a further reading of highlights outside.
 
If you can't make it but would still like to donate you can do so at the following website: 

http://www.justgiving.com/EASXmasCarolOutLoud

Conference: Historicizing Performance in the Early Modern Period, January

Historicizing Performance in the Early Modern Period

The John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester 

January 20, 2012

09.00 – 09.45 Registration and coffee
09.45 – 10.00 Welcome
10.00 – 11.00 Panel 1: Death and Ritual
Maggie Vinter (John Hopkins University), ‘How to do things while dying: Volpone and the ars moriendi’
Stephen Gordon (University of Manchester), ‘The Performance of Bad Death: The Strange Tale of the Shoemaker of Breslau’
11.00 – 11.15 Coffee Break

11.15 – 12.15 Panel 2: Music
Liam Haydon (University of Manchester), ‘Performing Perfection: Milton and the Music of the Spheres’
Dolly MacKinnon (University of Queensland), ‘If ever beene where bels have knell’d to Church’: The performance of parish bells in early modern England
12.15 – 12.30 Convenience Break

12.30 – 1.30 Keynote Lecture
Julie Sanders (University of Nottingham),
‘Within the Castle Walls: Historical Sites as Performance at Kenilworth and Ludlow’
1.30 – 2.30 Lunch

2.30 – 3.30 Panel 3: Space
Catherine Clifford (The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham), ‘From Wood to Stone: Whitehall Palace, the Banqueting House, and the Performance of Architecture in Court Drama, 1581-1621’
John Peacock (University of Southampton), ‘Architectural Performance: Inigo Jones and Bernini’
3.30 – 3.45 Convenience Break

3.45 – 4.45 Panel 4: Theatre and Ritual
Alison Findlay (University of Lancaster), ‘The State of Ceremony in Macbeth’
Brian Schneider (University of Manchester), ‘Extra –dramatic’ performance in early modern Prologues, Epilogues and Inductions
4.45 – 5.00 Coffee Break

5.00 – 6.00 Keynote Lecture
Tiffany Stern (University of Oxford),
‘Bitter, Black and Tragical’: Tragic Peformance on the Shakespearean Stage
6.00 – 6.30 Drinks

Registration: £10
Speakers and guests are invited to join us for dinner at a local restaurant; to book a place please let us know when registering (dinner not included in the registration fee).

The Society for Renaissance Studies has granted us bursaries to help postgraduate students with the costs of travel and accommodation. If you want to be considered for one of the bursaries, please let us know.

To book a place at this event please contact Michael Durrant and Naya Tsentourou at Historicizing.performance@manchester.ac.uk by 7^th January 2012.

The event will be taking place at the Seminar Room of the historic building of the John Rylands Library at Deansgate. Due to limited space, please register early to avoid disappointment.

We hope to see you there!
historicizingperformance.wordpress.com

CHRISTMAS CAROLATHON -tomorrow!

The 'Christmas Carolathon' is nearly upon us! We're already well on our way to our target of raising at least £500 for Shelter.  Professor Jeremy Gregory, the current head of the School of Arts, Histories and Culture, has confirmed that he will be one of the readers on the day, so please come and join us at all or some of the event.

It all begins at 9.15am in Samuel Alexander S1.5 with a full reading of 'A Christmas Carol'.  This will be followed by a Promenade performance of selected highlights along the Oxford Road. At 2pm there will be a matinee read through at the Friends' Meeting House on Mount Street, followed by a further reading of highlights at one of Manchester's Christmas Markets between 6-7pm.
 
If you can't make it but would still like to donate you can do so at the following website: 

http://www.justgiving.com/EASXmasCarolOutLoud

English & American Studies

LAW, LITERATURE, AND TRANSLATION CONFERENCE TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN 9-10th of June 2012

LAW, LITERATURE, AND TRANSLATION CONFERENCE

TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN 9-10^th of June 2012

There is no law without literature for law is also literature. Irish druids were not only poets: they were also invested with judicial authority. Still to this day, literature and translation of literature often deal with law, but very often the focus lies on the many ways of breaking the law. Especially in Ireland, poets and jurists are both celebrated and blamed for their talents in using words. Both are endowed with the power to charm their audience, sometimes at the cost of truth. The training of both a jurist and a poet involves a certain degree of self-characterization formed and influenced by culture. Law and literature, like all the humanities, share a common interest in the human experience and they look into what makes them specifically huåman. However, law aims at the clarity of an objective science whereas the power of literature and its translation rely on emotion and sensitivity of interpretation. Unlike what is expected from law, they feed on ambivalence, ambiguity, paradox and contradiction. Both Law and Literature are caught in the extensive possibilities but also the limitations of both written and spoken words. This conference aims to create an interdisciplinary dialogue between scholars of law, literature, and translation studies, and it seeks to explore the various interactions between these disciplines. It takes a broad approach to the fields of law, literature, and literary translation, welcoming papers considering key areas such as the following (and beyond):

·       Law in literature

legal and criminal figures in literature

crime and punishment

writers and criminals

heroes and public offenders…

·       Law of literature

censorship

freedom of expression

freedom of information

libel and defamation

ethics

publishing issues

copyright issues

·       Law as literature

the rhetoric of law

the narrative of law

law as a performing art

staging law

law as performance

criminal confessions and jurists’ memoirs

legal reading and interpretation

translating law and comparative law

Law and translation Ownership

Copyright law

Questions of originality

It is intended that selected papers will be published

An abstract of no more than 500 words should be emailed to Dr Peter Arnds (arndsp@tcd.ie) and Dr Sandrine Brisset (brissesm@tcd.ie) by the                      15th of January 2012.

Registration fees for two days: €95  

This will include two coffee breaks and one lunch per day

Well done, John!!!

John McAuliffe’s most recent collection, Of All Places, has been selected as one of the top five books of the year in The Irish Times:


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/1203/1224308505790.html

CIDRA events this week

Beyond the Digital Frame:
Gallery, Cinema, the Web
Lynn Hershman Leeson in conversation with Maria Balshaw
Tuesday 13th December 5pm (John Casken Lecture LT, Martin Harris Centre)

Please join us for this CIDRA event, followed by wine reception.  All welcome, no booking required.

ALSO:

Postgraduate Masterclass with Lynn Hershman Leeson and Jackie Stacey
Wednesday 14th December 10-11.30am (University Place 3.211)

and

Screening of Lynn Hershman Leeson's award-winning film !Women Art Revolution followed by Q&A with the director.
Wednesday 14th December 6pm (The Whitworth Art Gallery)

Lynn Hershman Leeson is a writer, director, producer and editor who has pioneered site specific, performance and interactive media. Most recently, she was honoured by the Digital Art Museum in Berlin with the d.velop digital art award (d.daa), the most distinguished honour for lifetime achievement in the field of new media.  Her film !Women Art Revolution has been selected by MOMA New York as one of the three best documentaries of the year.

'CHRISTMAS CAROLATHON' - FIVE DAYS TO GO

It's just five days to the start of the 'Christmas Carolathon' and we're already over half-way to our target of raising at least £500 for Shelter.  Professor Jeremy Gregory, the current head of the School of Arts, Histories and Culture, has confirmed that he will be one of the readers on the day, so please come and join us at all or some of the event.

It all begins at 9.15am in Samuel Alexander S1.5 with a full reading of 'A Christmas Carol'.  This will be followed by a Promenade performance of selected highlights along the Oxford Road. At 2pm there will be a matinee read through at the Friends' Meeting House on Mount Street, followed by a further reading of highlights at one of Manchester's Christmas Markets between 6-7pm.
 
If you can't make it but would still like to donate you can do so at the following website: 

http://www.justgiving.com/EASXmasCarolOutLoud

English & American Studies

EAS Reseach Seminar, next Wednesday (14 Dec)

Critical MASS: “Image and History in Afromodernist London” Fionnghuala Sweeney (Liverpool)

4pm, Poetry Centre (A4), All Welcome

Long Essay information

Many of you in your Third Year will be doing a Long Essay next year. You should have been informed about your supervision arrangements this week. There is much more information about the course including deadlines and examples of good work here:

http://www.currentstudents.arts.manchester.ac.uk/ug/sa/eas/longessay.htm

AHRC-funded scholarship in Salford

We have one doctoral studentship available for an October 2012 start and would especially welcome applications in the fields of the Gothic, women's writing, literature and science, post-holocaust literature, modern poetry or periodicals and print culture.

http://www.salford.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/fees-and-funding/ahrc-studentships/doctoral-award-in-english

Reminder - research seminar, today, not in Poetry Centre

EAS Research Seminar

Shane Weller, University of Kent

“Towards a Literature of the Unword: On the Genetic History of Samuel Beckett’s The Unnamable”

Weds 7 December

4pm Sam Alex S3.1 (Please note: NOT A4 Poetry Centre)

A Christmas Carol Out Loud, 14 December

The University reading will take place in the Undergraduate Common Room in Samuel Alexander (S1.5) from 9.15-1, then the following promenade readings will occur down Oxford Road:

13.00 Manchester Museum

13.15 All Saints Park

13.30 Starbucks

13.45 War Memorial

From 2-5.30 we are reading in the Friend's Meeting House and then into the Christmas Markets.

Please come along, support, and sponsor: https://www.justgiving.com/EASXmasCarolOutLoud

Sasha Bru, 8 Dec

EAS Research Seminar 

Shascha Bru, University of Leuven

The Shock of the Now: The Sensory Experience of Time in the Modernist Avant-Gardes

Thursday 8 December

4:30pm A4 (Poetry Centre)

Followed by a round table with Jeremy Tambling (Manchester), Scott McCracken (Keele), Daniela Caselli (Manchester)

Photos from the march, Weds

Researching the City



References and Careers

Many of you will be asking academic staff for references in the coming months, for jobs, internships, PGCEs, MA applications, funding applications, and the like.

We are generally more than happy to prepare these for you. These are prepared in a personal capacity and you must ensure that you have our agreement to write a reference. It may be the case that an academic cannot write for you, for a variety of reasons.

Furthermore, there are some things you should remember:

Please ensure that you make your request in good time, allowing at least two weeks for the completion of the reference (and more if possible). You should check the availability of your desired referee with regard to these deadlines.

You should consider who is best to write you a reference - sometimes your Academic Advisor, for instance, will be better placed to comment on your academic career and progress as a whole than a seminar leader that you get on with well. Better, fuller references will be the result of a positive working relationship that has been built up over some time.

Please also ensure that you furnish the member of staff with the details of the post/ position/ course, and some information about your application (ie. a CV, or the like).

If there is anything particular you would like mentioned (extra-curricular activities, dissertation topics, fine results, etc), then you should let us know these too so that we can fold them into our letters of reference and recommendation. 

For those of you looking for jobs after University, the Careers service is excellent and will support you in a variety of ways, from vacancy hunting to interview training: http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/

Research Seminar, 7 Dec

EAS Research Seminar

Shane Weller, University of Kent

“Towards a Literature of the Unword: On the Genetic History of Samuel Beckett’s The Unnamable”

Weds 7 December

4pm Sam Alex S3.1 (Please note: NOT A4 Poetry Centre)

Video Jam

CALLING ALL FILMMAKERS AND MUSICIANS/SOUND ARTISTS!

Video Jam is an exciting new experiment in sound and moving image, inspired by the traditional use of live accompaniment to silent film. 

THE PROPOSAL: 
We are collecting together a range of experimental short films to be screened at a venue in Manchester at the end of January. Each film will be paired with a musician or group who, reacting to the visuals provided, will perform a live score. Musicians may be provided with the film in advance or, for the more ambitious, choose to improvise on the night - we are open to suggestions.

FILMMAKERS: Send in your films by 21st DECEMBER to be considered for the programme. They must be 3-5 mins in length. We are not looking for any particular style or content (though experimental/abstract/ animation may suit well) - the only rule is that the film must be silent and you must be happy for it to be re-scored by an unknown musician. If you are sending in old material, please remove any soundtrack you may have previously added. For this reason, dialogue driven films may not be suitable, but anything you may send will be appreciated and considered. If you have any queries, don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

Phone Sarah on: 07974476149 or Sam on: 07809877350 and arrange to drop off a disc. 

DEADLINE for filmmakers: 21st December

MUSICIANS: This is the perfect project for anyone working ambitiously with sound! We are open to any suggestion you may have and welcome musicians/sound artists of all disciplines.

In particular, we’re keen to explore the more experimental avenues, and to encourage chance encounters between sound and vision.

To register your interest, discuss your ideas and for more information, get in touch with Mike on 07598127559 or Sarah on: 07974476149

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship – Moore Institute

National University of Ireland, Galway

Ref. no. NUIG-81-11

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a 12-month fixed-term position as Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow with the Moore Institute at NUI Galway.

The postdoctoral fellow will work on a project to develop a critical edition of Richard Hakluyt’s The Principal Navigations…of the English Nation (1598-1600), funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, with Prof. Daniel Carey as project leader. The Hakluyt edition is under contract with Oxford University Press in 14 volumes, and the postdoctoral fellow will work closely with the PI in conducting research on early modern travel, developing a project website, facilitating project communication, and organizing an editorial workshop.

The appointed candidate will join an international team of leading scholars working on editorial annotation of Hakluyt’s landmark text (under the general editorship of Prof. Carey and Prof. Claire Jowitt). The IRCHSS-funded project focuses on volumes 1-4 in the series which include Hakluyt’s prefatory materials, and documents relating to medieval English travel, Muscovy, Persia, Iceland and elsewhere.

Essential skills:

PhD in either English, History, Geography, or related disciplines.

Ability to work collaboratively, with excellent communication skills

Desirable Qualifications/Experience:

Research experience on early modern travel/colonialism/trade/geography.

Familiarity with one or more of the following: textual criticism, editing, digital humanities.

For informal discussion and further particulars about this post please contact Prof. Daniel Carey: daniel.carey@nuigalway.ie

For more information on the project leader and the Moore Institute, see: http://www.nuigalway.ie/english/daniel_carey.html

http://www.nuigalway.ie/mooreinstitute/

Salary: €30,117 per annum                Start date: January 2012

To apply: Interested candidates should submit a detailed C.V., a cover letter outlining their research interests and experience in relevant fields (c.400 words), and the names of at least two referees, via email (Word or PDF format only) to daniel.carey@nuigalway.ie. Applicants must put reference number NUIG 81-11 in subject line of e-mail application.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 5pm on Friday 2 December 2011.

National University of Ireland, Galway, is an equal opportunity employer.