Stirling

The Stirling hub, titled ‘Victorian Events’, will take place over 4th-5th September 2024. We welcome 20-minute paper and panel proposals that speak to any aspect of the general Event 2024 CFP and we would also encourage proposals focused on: exhibits, exhibitions and openings; lectures and public performances; imperial events; local/national events or incidents; literary events – scandals, sensations and bestsellers; occult meetings and séances; celebrity and press events; protests and gatherings; tourism; anniversaries, centenaries and jubilees; legal trials; and Victorian events in contemporary culture/Neo-Victorian events. Given the international form of the conference, we also welcome proposals that focus on global Scotland in the 1830-1910 period.

Hub Leaders

Confirmed Speakers

Michelle Foot (Edinburgh College of Art), Churnjeet Mahn (University of Strathclyde) 

Visiting Stirling

Overlooked by the Victorian Gothic grandeur of the National Wallace Monument (1869), both Stirling and nearby Bridge of Allan have rich Victorian heritage. Bridge of Allan was a popular spa town destination for Victorians, and its most notable regular visitor, Robert Louis Stevenson, made a number of allusions to the town in his writings. Charles Dickens convalesced in Bridge of Allan’s Royal Hotel in 1867 and visited Stirling’s Victorian Old Town Jail, which is now a popular attraction. Stirling is also home to the Smith Art Gallery and Museum, opened in 1874 at the bequest of the artist Thomas Stuart Smith. The gallery includes a collection of Smith’s works, featuring ‘The Pipe of Freedom’ (1869), alongside artwork by Anne Redpath, William Gillies and William MacTaggart. 

Logistics

The University of Stirling can be accessed via the Unilink shuttle bus from Stirling city centre (Stance A, across from the Stirling train station) or by walking from the Bridge of Allan train station (25 minutes). 

The campus hotel, Stirling Court Hotel, is ideally situated for the event, but both Stirling and Bridge of Allan provide a range of further accommodation options. 

Contact

For inquiries, email organizers@event2024.org.