Academics and scholars from around the world are coming to University of Plymouth for the 15th annual conference of the Transatlantic Studies Association (TSA).Taking place at the University from 4-6 July, the conference will feature a series of talks, presentations and discussion groups centred around the United States and its international relationships past, present and future.
It will feature a huge array of topics, ranging from contemporary poetry to cartography, Native Americans to nuclear disarmament, and cinema to slavery.
There will also be detailed discussions around the United States’ place as a global superpower, international politics past present and future, and American presidents from Roosevelt to Obama, and even the current presidential campaign.
The conference is one of many events showcasing world-leading research at University of Plymouth that will take place ahead of the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's sailing from Plymouth to America in 1620.
Kathryn N Gray, Reader in Early American Literature at University of Plymouth and one of those scheduled to speak at the conference, said:
“We are delighted to able to host the 15th annual conference for the Transatlantic Studies Association, and to welcome delegates with expertise in international relations, history, politics, literature and cultural studies. Over the course of the three days, the conference delegates will discuss the nature and shape of Europe’s relationship with the US from the colonial period to the present day – it is a timely moment, perhaps, to pause and reflect on how these relationships might be shaped in the future.”
The TSA was created in 2001 to bring together those scholars for whom the ‘transatlantic’ is an important frame of reference.
Since its establishment the Association has become a significant multi-disciplinary venue and network, and its annual conference attracts a broad cross-section of scholars from across North America, Latin America, and Europe.
This year’s conference will include three keynote addresses:
- The Mayflower Lecture, delivered by Professor Mary Nolan from New York University and supported by the BAAS/US Embassy Small Grants Program: The End of the American Century? The End of the European Project? Reflections on the Origins of the Current Crises;
- The TSA Keynote Lecture by Fionnghuala Sweeney, University of Newcastle: A Transatlantic Cultural Front? Black Diasporan London between the Wars; and
- The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) Keynote Lecture by Barbara Keys, University of Melbourne: Friendship in Diplomacy: Henry Kissinger's Personal Relationships.
Professor Giles Scott-Smith, Ernst van der Beugel Chair in the Diplomatic History of Atlantic Cooperation since World War II at the University of Leiden and Chairman of the TSA, added:
“In 2016 the Transatlantic Studies Association celebrates its 15th anniversary, and for such an occasion it is appropriate that we open the conference on the 4th of July. It is also fitting that the location is Plymouth, the last place of contact with England for the Pilgrim Fathers before they set sail across the Atlantic in 1620.”
