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Past
Events
2009
Modern
Scottish Historiography. A Debate.
Tuesday
27th January 2009,5.30 pm
Sydney Smith Room, Old
Medical School
Allan
I Macinnes, Professor of Early Modern History,
Strathclyde, spoke on the question 'A golden
age of Scottish Historiography: is it coming
to an end?'
His
presentation was followed by responses from
a panel consisting of Prof Richard Oram,
Stirling; Dr Enda Delaney, Edinburgh; Dr
Catriona McDonald, Glasgow Caledonian; and
Dr Gordon Pentland, Edinburgh and ended
with a general discussion.
The
event was chaired by Alvin Jackson, Richard
Lodge Professor of Modern British History,
Edinburgh
Did
Scottish thinkers invent the modern world?
A Debate.
Tuesday
24th February 2009, 6 pm
George
Square Lecture Theatre
The
Scottish Enlightenment of the eighteenth
century is justly famed as a period of quite
remarkable intellectual and cultural achievement.
In recent years some have argued that the
ideas of the thinkers of that time were
also basic to the making of modern western
democracy, the capitalist system and much
else. The thesis was given a higher public
profile in the best - selling volume by
the American scholar, Arthur Herman, The
Scottish Enlightenment: The Scots' Invention
of the Modern World (2002). This has become
a kind of source book for those Scottish
politicians keen to demonstrate how the
nation's past glories can act as a platform
for the development of an even more prosperous
future.
How
convincing are these arguments which, after
all, run to the very heart of Scotland 's
identity, sense of itself and its impact
on the world? Are they reliably based on
the available evidence or do they rather
reflect the exaggerated ethnic conceit of
a small stateless nation? These and other
questions were discussed by a distinguished
panel of leading scholars in a public debate.
The
participants were :
Dr
Thomas Ahnert - Lecturer in Early Modern
Intellectual History, University of Edinburgh
Dr
David Allan - Reader in Scottish History,
University of St Andrews
Professor
Alexander Broadie - FRSE Chair of Logic
and Rhetoric, University of Glasgow
Professor
Tom Devine - FRSE FBA Sir William Fraser
Chair of Scottish History and Palaeography
and Director of the Scottish Centre for
Diaspora Studies, University of Edinburgh
Professor
Susan Manning - FRSE Grierson Chair of Literature
and Director of the Institute for Advanced
Studies in the Humanities, University of
Edinburgh
Professor
Christopher Smout - FRSE FBA Historiographer
Royal in Scotland
'Peaceable
Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction
of William Penn's Holy Experiment’
Monday
6th July 2009, 5.15 pm
17 Buccleuch Place
A
Seminar with Professor Kevin Kenny (Boston
College)
Hosted in association with the American
History Workshop, University of Edinburgh
"Scotland
and Poland: a Historical Relationship, 1500
- 2009"
Thursday
1st and Friday 2nd October 2009
This
international conference brought together
the leading scholars of Scottish-Polish
history. It addressed the current Polish
migration to Scotland as well as the two
nations' many past connections. The conference
presented a major opportunity to discover
Scotland and Poland's shared past and present.
The two-day conference was organised by
the Polish Cultural Institute in London,
in cooperation with the University of Edinburgh,
Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies, with
the support of the Consulate General of
the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh.
'Brothers
and Sisters for a' That': Rediscovering
the Polish-Scottish Relationship
Thursday
1st October 2009, 6.20 pm
George
Square Lecture Theatre
On October 1, Neal Ascherson,
the distinguished Scottish journalist and
commentator, delivered a public lecture
entitled 'Brothers and Sisters for
a' That': Rediscovering the Polish-Scottish
Relationship. The lecture was chaired
by Professor Tom Devine,
Sir William Fraser Professor of Scottish
History and Palaeography, Director of the
Scottish Centre of Diaspora Studies, and
Head of School of the University of Edinburgh's
School of History, Classics and Archaeology.
[Listen to recording as MP3]
- this may take a little time to load
Further
Details
Polish
Cultural Institute, London
Scottish
Centre for Diaspora Studies, University
of Edinburgh
Consulate
General of the Republic of Poland, Edinburgh
Rethinking
Diaspora: A Workshop
Wednesday
21st October 2009, 9.30
am - 12.45 pm
Dunfermline
Room, National Museum of
Scotland
The
Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies and
National Museums Scotland hosted a joint
workshop at the National Museum of Scotland,
Chambers Street, on 21 October 2009, to
explore the material culture and heritage
of the Scottish Diaspora. Presenters included
Professor Tom Devine (UoE), David Forsyth
(NMS), Alexander Hayward (NMS) and Chantal
Knowles (NMS).
The full programme is available here.
Book
Launch
Wednesday
28th October 2009, 5 pm
Seminar
Room, 17 Buccleuch Place
Three
postdoctoral fellows of the Scottish Centre
for Diaspora Studies have recently published
important monographs covering topics on
the Scottish impact on India, colonial America
and the nineteenth century Empire.
This
event explored their findings and responses
to them from three distinguished scholars
from outside Edinburgh, while at the same
time providing an insight into some of the
Centre's current research activities.
Dr
Esther Breitenbach, Empire and Scottish
Society: The Impact of Foreign Missions
at Home c.1790 to c.1914
(Edinburgh
University Press, 2009)
Discussed
by Professor Miles Taylor
Director
of the Institute of Historical Research
Dr
David Dobson, Scottish Trade with Colonial
Charleston
(Humming
Earth Press, 2009)
Discussed
by Dr Alex Murdoch
Scottish
Centre for Diaspora Studies, University
of Edinburgh
Dr
George McGilvary, East India Patronage
and the British State
(Tauris
Academic Studies, 2008)
Discussed
by Professor Allan Macinnes
Professor
of Early Modern History, University of Strathclyde
The
event was chaired by T M Devine, Sir
William Fraser Professor of Scottish History
and Palaeography, Director of the Scottish
Centre for Diaspora Studies and Head of
the School of History, Classics and Archaeology
in the University of Edinburgh.
Scotland
and the British Empire Symposium
Wednesday
18th November 2009, 1.00
- 5.30pm
McEwan
Hall Reception Room
This
event was the first of two half-day symposia
at the Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies,
University of Edinburgh. Contributors to
the Oxford History of the British Empire
Companion volume on 'Scotland and the British
Empire', to be edited by John MacKenzie
and Tom Devine, presented papers based on
their contributions to the volume.
The
volume aims to reflect the major themes
emerging from the growing body of work on
the Scottish contribution to empire, and
to situate this work in the mainstream of
imperial history. It also aims to establish
the place of the Scottish historiography
of empire within a four nations perspective.
The chapters in the volume will cover key
themes such as economic benefits and impacts
of empire; empire, culture and science at
home and abroad; and empire and Scottish
national identity.
Scotland and the British Empire Symposium
programme
Forthcoming
Events
Portrait
of a Lady attributed to Thomas Hudson c.1740
Courtesy
of University of Dundee Museum Services
Scotland's Historians: the Development of
Eighteenth Century Historical Studies
Tuesday
8th December 2009, 6.00
- 8.00pm
St
Cecilia's Hall, Cowgate,
Edinburgh
The Eighteenth Century is the bridge between
the old and the new Scotland - the era of
the world famous Scottish Enlightenment,
industrialisation and urbanisation and the
revolutions in society in Lowland and Highland
Scotland. In this event the five historians
who have done most to interpret this remarkable
era over the last four decades were asked
to debate, reflect and provoke on the key
issues which have challenged and stimulated
them during their careers.
Chair, B P Lenman,
Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University
of St Andrews
T M Devine, Sir William
Fraser Professor of Scottish History and
Palaeography, University of Edinburgh, 'The
Other Side of Enlightenment'
A I MacInnes, Professor
of Early Modern History, University of Strathclyde,
'Securing the Union through Empire'
T C Smout , HM Historiographer
in Scotland, 'The Improvers Ethic: the Impact
of the Landed Classes on Rural Economy,
Society and Environment'
C A Whatley , Professor
of Scottish History, University of Dundee,
'John Galt and provincial Scotland: recantation,
revision, and enlightenment'
This event was supported by the Economic
and Social History Society of Scotland,
the Royal Society of Edinburgh Research
Awards in Arts & Humanities, the Scottish
Centre for Diaspora Studies, University
of Edinburgh and the Centre for Archive
and Information Studies, University of Dundee.
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