The Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies is pleased to announce a two-day conference, to take place at Leeds Trinity University on 30 and 31 May 2019. We are delighted to have Professor Christine Ferguson (University of Stirling), and Professor Roger Luckhurst (Birkbeck, University of London) as our keynote speakers.
Description:
Since the emergence of modern mediumship in the middle of the nineteenth century, science and spiritualism have been interwoven. Sceptics and believers alike have investigated spirit and psychic phenomena to determine its legitimacy. This two-day interdisciplinary conference will explore the history of the intersection of science and spiritualism during the long nineteenth century.
Key scholarship includes: • Ferguson, Christine, Determined Spirits: Eugenics, Heredity and Racial Regeneration in Anglo-American Spiritualist Writings 1848-1930, Edinburgh University Press, 2012. • Lamont, Peter, Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem, Cambridge University Press, 2013 • Luckhurst, Roger, The Invention of Telepathy, 1870-1901, Oxford University Press, 2002 • McCorristine, Shane, Spectres of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing in England, 1750-1920, Cambridge University Press, 2010 • Oppenheim, Janet, The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914, Cambridge University Press, 1985 • Owen, Alex, The Darkened Room: Women, Power and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England, University of Chicago Press, 2004
We welcome proposals from any discipline, covering any geographic region.
Image credit: From Camille Flammarion, Mysterious Forces, Boston MA, 1907
Possible topics include: • Scientific investigations at séances • Scientific literature on spirit and psychic phenomena • Technology and spiritualism (such as photography, telegraphy, telephony) • Medicine and spiritualism (such as studies in physiology and psychology) • Shamanism, animism and spiritualism in anthropology • Science, spiritualism and the periodical press • Cultures of science and religion and its connection to spiritualism • Spiritualism and material culture (such as haunted objects or locations) • Contesting cultural authority in spiritualism cases • Scientific experiments on spiritualism • Crisis of evidence in spirit and psychic investigations • Magicians and spiritualism (such as exposing fraud through replicating tricks) • Science and spiritualism in literature (such as Browning’s ‘Mr Sludge’) • Scientists as spiritualists and spiritualists as scientists
Please send a 250-word abstract, along with contact information to e.sera-shriar@leedstrinity.ac.uk. The Deadline for submission is 15 November 2018.
Some small travel bursaries will be available to postgraduate and early career scholars. If you would like to be considered for one, please include a short expression of interest detailing your research, and how this conference will be of benefit to you.
Taxpayers apparently funded a two-day conference devoted to studying and discussing Bigfoot, which was organized by University of New Mexico, Gallup, professor Dr. Christopher Dyer, at which Dr. Jeff Meldrum and Rob Kryder spoke. Both are Bigfoot researchers. The conference cost about $7500 and took place at UNM-Gallup. Dr. Meldrum received a $1000 honorarium.
According to Dr. Dyer, the conference was well-attended. Benjamin Radford, the Managing Editor of The Skeptical Inquirer, notes that no Bigfoot skeptics were invited. Dr. Dyer responds that he didn't know where to find any skeptics. I suspect he could have asked Mr. Radford, who is easy to find, for some assistance.
After the conference, Dr. Dyer and some others went on a Bigfoot search, paid for by UNM-Gallup (although no UNM-Gallup faculty or students accompanied Dr. Dyer on the trip).
There is now some concern about the conference. Said UNM President Robert Frank, "Dr. Dyer needs to be much more thoughtful about how he undertakes these activities."
We have extended the date for the call for papers for this conference to January 6, 2014. We encourage interested persons to submit proposals, particularly in the areas of law and magic where they intersect other disciplines such as history, literature, film, freedom of expression, religion, architecture or anthropology.
Revealing the Links Between Law and Magic
A Conference Sponsored by the Law and Humanities Law Institute and
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
June 5-6, 2014
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
1155 Island Avenue, San Diego CA 92101
Call For Papers
On June 5 and 6, 2014, the Law and Humanities Institute, New York, New York (USA) and Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA (USA) will sponsor a Conference on Law and Magic.
Law and magic interact in many ways. Not only can the law influence the practice of magic, such as in the areas of freedom of speech and religion and intellectual property; but also magic can influence the law, such as in trial tactics and evidence. In addition, magic illuminates the crossroads of other law and humanities fields, such as the emerging area of law and neuroscience, rhetoric, and law and popular culture. Papers discussing or developing these or any aspect of the relationship between law and magic are welcome, especially those that further an understanding of the theory, underpinnings, and/or philosophy of the field.
Materials and presentations will be in English. The organizers of the conference are Christine Corcos, Louisiana State University Law Center (christine.corcos@law.lsu.edu) and Julie Cromer Young, Thomas Jefferson School of Law (jcromer@tjsl.edu).
We invite you to submit an abstract of a 20-minute paper that you would like to deliver at the conference. Abstracts should be between 250 and 500 words and sent to Christine Corcos at the email address above accompanied by the author’s brief biographical statement. Please put “Law and Magic Conference June 2014” in the email subject line and submit the abstract and biographical statement no later than January 6, 2014. We will send notifications regarding acceptance of presentations by February 1, 2014.
If you would like us to consider your paper for publication, please indicate that in the body of your email. Conference papers accepted for publication will appear in the Spring 2015 issue of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review.
Please address questions to Christine Corcos at the email address above.
The Washington Symposium on Magic History is coming up. It takes place April 25-27 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, Bethesda, MD 20852. Here's the link to the conference webpage.
Speakers include Bill Kalush, John McLaughlin, Darwin Ortiz, Dale Salwak, David Saltman, Will Given, Shreeyash Palshikar, James Hamilton, Diego Domingo, Bruce MacNab, and Dean Arnold. Ken Trombly, the conference organizer, says topics for the conference range from espionage and magic to famous magicians such as Alexander Herrmann and Houdini to the magic of North Korea and India. Sounds both educational and entertaining. Ken tells me space is still available, so if you want to attend the conference, don't delay--sign up now. Another plus: DC should be beautiful in late April.
The Washington Symposium on Magic History, set for April 25-27, 2013 is now accepting on-line registrations, at www.magicposters.com Styled very much after the famed LA Conference on Magic History, this three day east coast event will feature an exclusive exhibit for its attendees only at the Library of Congress, consisting of highlights from the Houdini and McManus-Young Collections. In addition, the Symposium will host a huge dealers room offering vintage magic collectibles, an auction of vetted material, the screening of a new documentary film about magic, and a number of speakers on arcane topics of interest to magic history enthusiasts and collectors. Except for the Library of Congress exhibit, all events will take place at the award-winning Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, in Bethesda, MD, where a greatly discounted room rate is available for Symposium attendees. For more information, or to register on-line, go to at www.magicposters.com. This unusual and special event is likely to be a sell-out.
The Washington Symposium on Magic History will be April 25-27, 2013 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in North Bethesda, MD.
In the coming weeks we will set up Internet links for registering for the convention and for booking rooms at the special symposium rate.
But for now please save the dates.
You can look forward to a memorable weekend, featuring,
A variety of unusual and provocative speakers and topics
A huge dealer’s room, teeming with vintage magic collectibles
A unique and exclusive Library of Congress Magic Exhibit on Friday April 26, featuring numerous highlights from the Houdini and McManus-Young collections
An auction of vetted magic collectibles (apparatus, books, posters, ephemera etc), something for everyone!
And a surprise or two that we are keeping up our sleeve for now.
Special convention Room rates $119 night, with free wifi in all rooms and discounted parking for all
This is a four star hotel, conveniently located near the easy-to-use Metro system.
Bring your significant other so you can play tourist. April is the best time to visit DC, with pleasant weather and the newly bloomed cherry blossoms.
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