'Uneasy Neighbours' Conference Success
SCNR hosted a successful one-day conference on 20 September 2013.
‘Uneasy Neighbours?: Rural-Urban Relations in the Nineteenth Century' was a truly international affair, which brought together delegates from the US, Japan, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Ireland, as well as from various parts of England and Wales. In addition to the keynote address by Professor Keith Snell, 27 papers were presented. One postgraduate student and one overseas scholar came to Southampton a day early to use resources in Special Collections. A conference grant awarded by the British Association of Victorian Studies enabled SCNR to give bursaries to 10 British postgraduate students who contributed to the conference to support them with their costs. Michelle Deininger, a doctoral candidate from Cardiff University, won the prize for best postgraduate paper for her talk on ‘Representations of Rural Communities in Nineteenth-century Welsh Newspapers'. Michelle's excellent paper drew upon her research using the Welsh Newspapers Online digitization project. Congratulations to Michelle.
The conference was a great success in large part thanks to the efforts of Barry Sloan. Not only did Barry put in a superb effort to make sure everything ran smoothly on the day, he also managed to create a serious yet relaxed atmosphere which allowed everyone to derive a great deal from the varied sessions and discussions. Comments from delegates confirmed what a stimulating event it had been.