The University's Dumfries Campus will this week host a Burns Summer School to mark the 250th anniversary of the Bard’s birth.

The five day conference, part of this year’s official Homecoming celebrations, will run from tomorrow (Tues 21 July) until Saturday (25 July), and will see academics from all over the world meet to present papers and discuss new aspects of the poet’s work.

The event will take a particular look at the legacy Burns left in Dumfries and Galloway. The conference which coincides with the anniversary of Burns' death in 1796, will feature the commemorations at the Brow Well where he took the waters in a futile attempt to stave off the inevitable.

The week will end with a special one-day conference entitled 'Doon Hame with Robert Burns' in which a number of new academic papers will be presented.

Speaking ahead of the event, Ted Cowan, Professor of Scottish History and Director of the Crichton Campus, said: “We have been looking forward to this event for some time. Our Burns Summer School - which follows the Burns Conference hosted in Glasgow in January - is the Robert Burns World Federation’s flagship event of this Homecoming year.

“Throughout this week, we will be joined by academic scholars from as far afield as Canada and Australia as well as those closer to home from Europe and the UK itself. I am confident that the Summer School will be a resounding success and will contribute to our understanding and appreciation of the Bard."

The event’s programme also features live music, dance and a range of social activities.

Mike Duguid, one of the conference organisers, expanded on the programme. He said: “We will open with Professor Cowan’s presentation entitled 'The Philosopher, the Physician, the Fanatic, the Fraudster and the First Secretary: The Doon Hame Creation of Robert Burns', which explores the poet’s Dumfries years. Dr Valentina Bold, a Senior Lecturer in Scottish Studies at Crichton, will continue the proceedings examining other aspects of Burns’ life and works.

“Later on in the day, the Suzanne Knight Dancers narrate the background to, and perform, a set of dances which are specifically connected to Burns and his love of Scottish country dancing. And in the evening, Emily Smith, the Scottish Traditional Singer of the Year, will entertain us with an evening of song in Burns’ favourite Howff, The Globe Inn, in Dumfries. This promises to be memorable evening in the company of a rising international star who has her roots firmly in the South West of Scotland and demonstrates a genuine affinity for the songs of Robert Burns.”

To help cement the legacy of the Year of Homecoming, the Summer School will finish by launching a new post-graduate M.Lit. in Burns Studies under the auspices of the Burns Appreciation and Research in Dumfries (BARD) Initiative.

Professor Cowan added: "The BARD initiative will work alongside and hopefully add to efforts of the Robert Burns Centre in main University campus, with particular emphasis on the Dumfries years of Burns’ life. It is appropriate that, although the Homecoming rightly celebrates the 250th anniversary of his birth, some recognition should be accorded to the latter part of his life, and death, in Dumfries."

Earlier this year the University of Glasgow hosted the world largest Burns Conference. 'Robert Burns 1759 to 2009' attracted almost 100 academics from around the world for three days of lectures, events and social activities.

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For more media information please contact Eleanor Cowie, Media Relations Officer at the University of Glasgow on Tel: 0141 330 3683 or Email: e.cowie@admin.gla.ac.uk

For more information on the conference itself including booking and pricing please contact Prof Ted Cowan on 01387 702042 and 01387 702043 or Ted.Cowan@crichton.gla.ac.uk

First published: 17 July 2009

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