Society for Global Nineteenth Century Studies World Congress 2025

Cultural Circulations, Global Mobilities, and Knowledge Translations: Turning Points in the Nineteenth Century 

The nineteenth century witnessed an unprecedented acceleration and densification of human movements that generated, perhaps for the first time, cultural circulations on a global scale. With the world more interconnected than it had ever been, the need to classify, translate and hierarchise knowledge became more pressing than ever.

For its 2025 world congress, the Society for Global Nineteenth-Century Studies places mobility centre-stage, exploring the means through which it was implemented: through travel, exploration and conquest, which in turn led to processes of translation, acculturation and superimposition that are closely associated with globalisation. Covering the period between 1750 through 1914, the congress reveals how travel and mobility structured the ‘Great Revolutions’ that marked the long nineteenth century and made it a watershed moment in human history.

Call For Papers

Topics may include (but are not limited to):  

•  Turning points (linguistic, cultural, social, political, technological)
• Changes in modes of travel and transportation
• Travelling ideas 
• Pilgrimage
• Historical displacement of refugees
• Circulations, transfers, and migrations
• Nomadism
• Problems in translation (e.g., political humour, the absurd, nonsense, etc.)
• Explorers and expeditions
• Science fiction
• Intermedial translation
• Steamers and trains
• Colonization
• Translation and life writing
• Transfer of knowledge
• Cultural transposition
• Adaptation across cultures
• Transmediality and transnationalism
• Transfer and transmission
• Texts and their contexts
• Transposition in music
• Transposition and translation
• Travel maps and cartographies of navigation
• Books as travelling objects
• Photography, painting, and travel
• Tourism and visual culture
• Nomadic narratives
• Translation and the discovery of new cultures
• The re/discovery of ancient civilizations/Egyptomania
• Translation and the discovery of European modernity

 In addition to paper and panel proposals related to the conference theme, we also welcome proposals for prearranged special panels on topics in global nineteenth-century studies more broadly: 

Methodology OR Pedagogy Roundtables: Sessions focused on methodological approaches to studying and practical strategies for teaching the nineteenth century in a global context. 

Big Ideas: Sessions focused on a single thought-provoking topic related to the global nineteenth century. The format may vary from standard panels (three presenters and a moderator) to lightning roundtables (five to eight presenters delivering short, provocative position papers) to others that may be proposed. 

Proposals (deadline: 1 March)

Individual paper proposals should consist of an abstract (200-250 words), brief biography (80- 100 words), and full contact information in a single pdf document or Word file. Panel proposals should include abstracts for 3-4 papers, a brief rationale that connects the papers (100-200 words), and biographies of each participant (80-100 words) in a single pdf or Word file. All proposals should include 3 to 5 keywords.  Successful panel proposals will include participants from more than one institution, and, ideally, represent a mix of disciplines/fields and career stages. Panel proposals should also indicate the category for evaluation: general conference program or special session; Methodology or Pedagogy Roundtable; or Big Ideas. 

Presenters, panel chairs, and workshop participants must be current members of the Society for Global Nineteenth-Century Studies at the time of the World Congress. For more information on membership, visit www.global19c.com

Proposals and questions should be directed to the Program Committee: B.C.Sebe@bham.ac.uk

Please visit the 2025 Congress website for the most up-to-date information: https://www.sgncscongress.com