Roundtable Discussion with Michael Ignatieff, University of Edinburgh, 7 June @ 10 am

Students are invited to join Professor Michael Ignatieff for an informal roundtable discussion following his Edinburgh Fulbright Lecture, ‘The Crisis of Universal Values and the Return of the Sovereign’. Moderation will be led by SSPS Doctoral students Daniel Cetrà and Marie-Eve Hamel. The event is hosted by Dr. Liliana Riga.

June 7th, 10:00-12:00, IASH Seminar Room

If you are interested in participating in this event, please register at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/fulbright-roundtable-with-professor-michael-ignatieff-tickets-25373451677

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ENNIN Spring Conference 2016: Plurality, Belonging, and the Nation State, University of Edinburgh, 19-20 May

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Conference at the University of Edinburgh, 14-15 May 2015

The University of Edinburgh’s Ethnicity, Nationalism and National Identity Network (ENNIN), in association with the Historical and Comparative Sociology Study Group of the British Sociological Association are hosting a two-day conference entitled “Nations, history and comparison: a conference on historical sociology and the study of nationalism”. This conference is part of the 50- year anniversary of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, and will be held Thursday and Friday, May 14-15, 2015.

The conference aims at providing a stimulating environment to exchange ideas and build networks in a welcoming setting that encourages interdisciplinary dialogue and approaches. One of the great strengths of historical sociology and the study of nationalism is the breadth of the fields and perspectives that they encompass, and we encourage submissions from all angles and topics which might fall within the frame of historical sociology or the study of nationalism.

Free registration. Link for registration: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conference-nations-history-and-comparison-a-conference-on-historical-sociology-and-the-study-of-tickets-16496464369

Conference program

Day 1: 14th of May 2015
Registration

9 –9.30am Foyer

Opening speech: Professor Umut Ozkirimli (Lund University)

9.50– 10.45am Seminar Room 3

Coffee

10.45– 11am Foyer

Panel session 1: Nationalism discourses

11am– 12.30pm Seminar Room 3

Lunch Break

12.30 – 1.30pm Foyer (Sandwiches and drinks will be provided)

Panel session 2: Nationalism, violence and power

1.30– 3pm Seminar Room 3

Knowledge  Café

3–4.15pm Practice Suite, Room 1.12

 Panel session 3: Disintegration and decolonisation

  4.30 – 5.45pm Practice Suite, Room 1.12
 

 Brass Monkey Cinema, Film TBC

7pm
 Day 2: 15th of May 2015

Panel session 4: Revising history; various approaches

9 -10.30am Seminar Room 3

Coffee

10.30– 10.45am Foyer

Guided discussion on methods

10.45am – 12pm Seminar Room 3

Lunch Break

12 – 1pm

Panel session 5: Democratisation

1 – 2:30 pm Seminar Room 3

Coffee

2:30‐3pm Foyer

Panel Discussion on Researching Nationalism in Scotland

3‐4pm Seminar Room 3

Closing speech: Professor Jonathan Hearn (University of Edinburgh)

4 – 5pm Seminar Room 3

Wine reception

5–6pm Foyer

Dinner

7.30pm

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Call for Submissions: ‘Nations, history and comparison: a conference on historical sociology and the study of nationalism’, University of Edinburgh, 14-15 of May 2015.

The University of Edinburgh’s ‘Ethnicity, Nationalism and National Identity Network’ (ENNIN), in association with the ‘Historical and Comparative Sociology Study Group of the British Sociological Association’ invite abstracts for a two-day conference entitled “Nations, history and comparison: a conference on historical sociology and the study of nationalism”. This conference is part of the 50- year anniversary of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, and will be held Thursday and Friday, May 14-15, 2015.

The conference aims at providing a stimulating environment to exchange ideas and build networks in a welcoming setting that encourages interdisciplinary dialogue and approaches. One of the great strengths of historical sociology and the study of nationalism is the breadth of the fields and perspectives that they encompass, and we encourage submissions from all angles and topics which might fall within the frame of historical sociology or the study of nationalism.

Topics might include but are not limited to:
– Nationalism and Power
– Nationalism and Violence
– Why History matters
– Methodology
– Regional sections: Latin America, Middle East, South East Asia
– Describing and Explaining Social Processes
– New Directions in Historical Sociology
– Bridging the gap between the Macro and Micro in Historical Sociology

Confirmed speakers include:
– Professor Donald Bloxham, School of History, Classics and Anthropology, University of Edinburgh
– Professor Lindsay Paterson, Department of Social Policy, University of Edinburgh
– Professor Roland Dannreuther, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Westminster
– Professor Jonathan Hearn, Department of Sociology, University of Edinburgh

We invite abstracts of 250-300 words to be e-mailed to ennin.rg@ed.ac.uk by Thursday, January 30th 2015. The proposals should include your name, contact details and institutional affiliation. Final decisions and general registration for the conference will begin in February.

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SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP: Rachel Hutchins on “Teaching the Nation”

Rachel Hutchins (http://idea-udl.org/members/hutchins/ ) will be presenting a seminar on 24^th September co-sponsored by Sociology and Edinburgh NANI. Rachel does some very interesting work using historic school textbooks as a key resource in examining nation/state- building (see abstract below)

Rachel has also very kindly agreed to hold an informal PG/Staff workshop on the afternoon of the 24^th (14.00, CMB seminar room 3 – on the ground floor) to which all interested PG students and staff are very cordially invited. It will prove a useful and interesting opportunity to think about HOW we go about studying nations and nationalism. It will also be an occasion to meet and welcome some of the new MSc/PhD students arriving in Edinburgh to study all things national.

 

24th September

RESEARCH SEMINAR: 11am, 6th Floor Common Room CMB, 15a George Square.

WORKSHOP: 2pm,  Seminar Room 3, Ground Floor, CMB, 15a George Square.

 

RACHEL HUTCHINS: Teaching the Nation: Nationalism and National Identity in History Education

 

History education provides an official view of national identity and, as such, frequently generates controversy well beyond the educational establishment. National identity is not – as nationalists often purport – fixed and eternal, but is continually redefined. This redefinition usually involves renegotiation between proponents of competing visions of who is part of the nation and which ideologies and values reflect the community’s spirit and best interest. History curricula and textbooks are a prime site of such renegotiations. Studying these educational materials and the debates surrounding them in different countries and over time allow insight into how and why conceptions of national identity change and how this process perpetuates national attachment.

This paper examines national history curricula and textbooks from France and the United States over the past 30 years. These countries have experienced comparable demographic and cultural shifts since the 1960s, resulting in intense public debate over national identity. In both cases, this paper shows, historical narratives have been expanded to include more women and ethnic minorities while reaffirming unity via a renewed emphasis on traditional national symbols and ideology.

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Dr John Glassford from San Angelo Univeristy, Texas, gives talk on ‘George Orwell’s Shallow Nationalism’

Dr Glassford will present a paper, followed by discussion, on:

George Orwell’s Shallow Nationalism

There has always been as many ‘Orwell’s’ as there are commentators on his thought. Orwell has been claimed as a hero of the anti-Stalinist left, an opponent of all totalitarianisms, as a staunch critic of capitalism, acute analyst of art-prop, as a peculiar proponent of English common sense socialism, of libertarian self-reliance, and there are even some who view Orwell as a hero of neo-conservatism; a defender of Western pluralism and toleration. In this paper I will eschew theories of nationalism and re-examine Orwell’s search for a political and cultural identity that was central to his sense of what he was against in texts such as The Lion and the Unicorn, and Down and Out in London and Paris, and I will attempt to demonstrate that Orwell never really successfully re- imagined a persuasive sense of Englishness.

Time: 4 July, 1:00-2:30

CMB, Meeting Room (Pod) 5

Hosted by: the Nationalism and National Identity (NANI) research group and Ethnicity, Nationalism and National Identity Network (ENNIN)

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ENNIN conference, University of Edinburgh, May 22nd 2014

Just a reminder about the ENNIN graduate conference organized at the University of Edinburgh, May 22nd 2014, on ‘Identity, Nations and Nationalism in a Changing World’.

The conference involves diverse panels, a round table discussion on Scottish nationalism and a closing speech by Prof. John Breuilly.

Link for free registration:

 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/graduate-conference-identity-nations-and-nationalism-in-a-changing-world-tickets-10851961509

 

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ENNIN – Wednesday April 3rd

Our next meeting is Wednesday, April 3rd, at 5pm in CMB meeting room 2.

Our presenter is Katya Braginskaia, on “Muslim Councils in Britain and Russia: ‘mobilised’ interest groups or ‘institutionalised’ challengers?”.

Best,

ENNIN group

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ENNIN Meeting – Wednesday March 20th

Dear ENNIN members,

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, March 20th at 5pm in Meeting Room 2, CMB.

Our first presenter will be Eirik Magnus Fuglestad, on “Historical Rupture as Empowerment in Dermot Bolger’s The Family on Paradise Pier”.

Our second presenter will be Marie-Eve Hamel, on “The Body of the Nation: Survivors of Sexual Violence and Nation-Building in Post-Conflict Societies”

See you on Wednesday!

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ENNIN Seminar, Wednesday March 6th 2013

The next ENNIN seminar will be on Wednesday March 6th, at 5pm in Crystal Macmillan Building meeting room 1.

Our presenter next week is Michel van Duijnen, presenting on “Our national identity and the national rights of others: imaging a world of nations in Dutch postwar history”.

See you on Wednesday,

ENNIN

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