Centre for Robert Burns Studies Conference
An academic conference exploring the life, work, and legacy of Robert Burns.
College of Arts & Humanities | School of Critical Studies | Centre for Robert Burns Studies
Date: Saturday 18 January 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Venue: Advanced Research Centre
Category: Conferences, Academic events
We are delighted to announce that the University of Glasgow's Centre for Robert Burns Studies Conference, hosted in collaboration with the National Trust for Scotland, will take place on Saturday the 18th of January 2025, 10am-4pm, at the Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC).
Join us for a fascinating survey of the life, works and legacy of Scotland's National Bard, Robert Burns (1759-96).
This year, topics will span Burns's engagement with the environment, manuscript forgery, and the complexity of Burns's connections with the transatlantic slave trade and abolition. The conference features two important named lectures: The Burns Scotland Lecture and the Craig Sharp Memorial Lecture. Delegates can look forward to the launch of not one, but two exciting new digital resources, as well as a musical performance by talented Scottish musician Bill Adair.
We look forward to welcoming you to Glasgow in January!
Programme
09:30: Tea/Coffee & Arrival
10am: Welcome from the Centre for Robert Burns Studies and Professor Jo Gill (Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Arts & Humanities & Head of College of Arts & Humanities)
Session 1 - Chair: Dr Pauline Mackay
10:10: ‘Ilk cowslip cup shall kep a tear’ - Using Burns as a Medium to Further Green Initiatives at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum (Christopher Waddell, National Trust for Scotland)
10:40: The Robert Burns Letter-Writing Trail: Mapping Burns’s Network of Correspondents(Dr Craig Lamont & Dr Jessica Reid, University of Glasgow)
11:00: The National Trust for Scotland Burns Collections Online (Ruth McKechnie, National Trust for Scotland)
11:20:Tea/Coffee
Session 2 - Chair: Professor Murray Pittock
11:40: A 'manufactory of spurious MSS.': Burns Chronicle reports of manuscript forgery, 1892-c.1943 (Dr Sarah Leith, University of St Andrews).
12:10: The Burns Scotland Lecture -The Slave’s Lament: “Why did Burns not do more?” (Dr Clark McGinn, Honorary Researcher in Robert Burns Studies, University of Glasgow)
13:00: Lunch
Session 3 - Chair: Dr Ronnie Young
13:45: One Year on from the Queen’s Anniversary Prize: New Directions in Robert Burns Studies (Dr Pauline Mackay, University of Glasgow)
14:00: The Craig Sharp Memorial Lecture —Robert Burns and The American Fugitive: William Wells Brown, Antislavery, and the 'Author-Function'(Dr Arun Sood, University of Exeter)
14:50: Musical Performance - Bill Adair
15:20: Reception
16:00: Close