The last two decades have witnessed a huge expansion of research into the nature of biography. One of the great strengths of this burgeoning research culture is its interdisciplinary nature, with researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines, as well as freelance biographers and scholars unattached to any academic institution.
Yet what constitutes a real strength is also an obvious weakness, in that the diverse backgrounds of scholars engaged in this research means communication across the disciplines can often prove difficult. Clearly academic biographers from different disciplines, freelance biographers, and theorists of biography can and do meet – but too often their engagement with each other is haphazard.
A research network can consolidate fragile lines of communication across disciplines, between practitioners and theorists, and between scholars and non-academic writers. The research institutes in the UK and abroad fulfil an invaluable role, but the AHRC – in conjunction with the University of Southampton and its partner institutions – is now establishing a research network that will be interdisciplinary, international, and inclusive.
Visit the Challenges to Biography website.
Conferences and events associated with this project:
View the Challenges to Biography website for events listings