On 7-10 July 2020 to a theme of ‘France and Beyond’, the first ever joint meeting of the George Rudé Seminar and the Society for French Historical Studies Conference will be held in Auckland on the two campuses of the University of Auckland and Massey University, Albany. This special conference marks a departure from the norms of both societies while preserving and promoting the atmosphere and the intimacy of intellectual exchange nurtured and valued by both. It brings closer together chercheurs and scholars of French History, and welcomes those members of the wider global fraternity of French Historians to ally themselves to their colleagues in Auckland. Leading scholars from the US, UK and Europe will be keynote guests, and many American and international colleagues have already signalled their intention to attend.

The organisers invite the submission of panels, roundtables, and individual papers (papers should be 15-to-20 minutes) on any aspect of French History, Medieval to Contemporary. Areas of traditional French historical research will be featured alongside popular themes: Citizenship in the Medieval and Early Modern European world; the Revolutionary period and its environmental impact in the wider Atlantic world; and changing approaches to French or Franco-British History in the NZ/Australasian and Pacific region – in Océanie.

Please submit proposals of 300 words per speaker and a biographical profile of 100 words. Panels will of course be welcome if the panellists are all committed to coming to NZ, but due to the distance involved, it is expected that submissions will be mainly made up of individual papers (which the organisers will assemble into panels by subject or theme). Comment will be by the audience, and we would welcome volunteers who would be willing and able to chair sessions. This is a preliminary call for papers preparing scholars for this meeting, and to give those who will need to travel, time to organise their projects and papers for Auckland next year. There will be a further official call for papers in May 2019 and the deadline for proposals is 1 October 2019.

Please allow us to remind you that participants from North America must be members in good standing of the Society for French Historical Studies. Other scholars are warmly invited to join the Society, as well, although there is no obligation to do so.

For any other questions, information on travel and accommodation (that will continue to appear across 2019), please consult the website, France and Beyond or contact one of:

Tracy Adams, Co-President t.adams@auckland.ac.nz
Kirsty Carpenter, Co-President K.Carpenter@massey.ac.nz
Joe Zizek, Treasurer j.zizek@auckland.ac.nz