Writing the Lives of People and Things, AD 500-1700 Event

Key-note speaker: Charles Nicholl, author of The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street and The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe.

Biography has particular relevance in contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship as it encompasses every field of human experience.  As a result, scholars are becoming increasingly interested in using individual lives (of people and objects) to elucidate the past. In the fields of archaeology and anthropology, too, object biography has been a growing area of theoretical research in the past thirty years.  With this in mind, this two-day conference will bring together postgraduates and early-career researchers from across disciplines to discuss their varied approaches to biographical research, focussing on people and things from the medieval and early modern periods.

Registration is £80 and includes:

• Access to all sessions on both days in the beautiful Chawton House, an Elizabethan manor house and former home of Jane Austen's brother;
• Transportation to and from Alton Station, and to and from accommodation in the Chawton/Alton area;
• Buffet lunch and refreshments on both days.

For further information please contact Gemma Watson (glw1g09@soton.ac.uk) or Robert Smith (rfws206@soton.ac.uk).

A small number of bursaries are available.  You must be registered to attend the conference to be eligible.  If you wish to be considered for a bursary then please email Gemma Watson and Robert Smith and explain why you require it.  Deadline for applications is 28th February.

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Society for Renaissance Studies, Royal Historical Society, the Music and Letters Trust and the Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton.