Scotland and the Wider World
Developments and Collaborative Projects
Researchers’ Night 2010: Scotland and the Wider World, 24 September 2010
On 24 September the School of History of the University of St Andrews will host Scotland’s first ever Researchers’ Night (3pm-11pm). A Researchers’ Night is a European Commission-funded event held simultaneously in different academic institutions throughout the EU. It aims to celebrate research activities, stimulate interest in research among a wide non-academic audience and encourage the consideration of research as a profession. In St Andrews Researchers’ Night 2010 will showcase the numerous and diverse research topics examined by historians. There will be a wide range of exciting and informative events from 3pm onwards which will include public lectures by leading scholars, children’s activities and guided tours at the Museum of the University of St. Andrews (MUSA), dramatised readings, exhibitions, a wine reception and live music in the historic Parliament Hall of St. Andrews. A special emphasis will be placed on Professor Steve Murdoch’s research project ‘Scotland and the Wider World’ who, with his project team, will offer demonstrations and trial sessions of the ‘Scotland, Scandinavia and Northern Europe, 1580-1707’ – Database, a compendium of biographical information of more than 7000 Scottish men and women which can also be used as a genealogical tool.
All activities and events are free of charge, but some require booking. For those who cannot make it to St Andrews on the day there will be podcasts and live-streamed lectures available online. For further information see www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/researchersnight or contact Dr Kathrin Zickermann (0131 4661122, kz7@st-andrews.ac.uk) or Dr Sumi David (01334 4623302, asohist@st-andrews.ac.uk).
SOCIÉTÉ FRANÇAISE D’ÉTUDES ÉCOSSAISES CONFERENCE 2009, 'EXILE AND RETURN: CONTEXT AND COMPARISONS', ST ANDREWS, 11-13 SEPTEMBER 2009
The Société Française d’Études Écossaises, in conjunction with the University of St Andrews and the University of Strathclyde, held its 2009 conference, themed ‘Exile and Return: Context and Comparisons’. Recent years have seen a burgeoning scholarship concerning migration, emigration and the formation of Scottish expatriate communities abroad. This conference built on this growing corpus of work by exploring the theme of exile and return. Through this conference we sought to delve into the theme of ‘exile’ in its broadest context, encompassing both the intellectual exile and geographical displacement. Similarly with ‘return’, speakers were not confined simply by the concept of physical return but also themes of intellectual return, the transfer of ideas and aspects of ‘return’ through cultural osmosis or literature. The conference opened on the evening of Thursday 10 September with Billy Kay presenting “Knee Deep in Claret”, where samples of the product that helped to cement Franco-Scottish relations were provided.
Scots in England Workshop, 4 October 2007
On 4th October 2007, the ISHR hosted a workshop looking at the migration, settlement and cultural interaction of the Scots in England. The event was undertaken in partnership between Steve Murdoch (ISHR) and Gordon Pentland (University of Edinburgh). Speakers were invited from across the country and in the end over 20 people from 7 institutions attended (Exeter, Durham, Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Stirling, St Andrews and Aberdeen). Speakers were invited to contribute a short discussion paper in each session of the day, after which the chair opened the discussion to the floor. The format proved very successful and each of the sessions on Migrations, Politics and Power, and Ideas and Culture led to thought provoking and stimulating debate which will in due course form the backbone of a collection on the same subject to be co-edited by Gordon Pentland and Steve Murdoch
