CFP: Centre for Victorian Studies Colloquium – ‘New Directions in Nineteenth-Century Studies’

Explore new horizons in Victorian Studies at our one-day colloquium!

CFP: Centre for Victorian Studies Colloquium – ‘New Directions in Nineteenth-Century Studies’

Date: 30 April 2026

Venue: Royal Holloway, University of London (Egham Campus)

About the Colloquium         

The long nineteenth century was shaped by profound technological, scientific, cultural, and political transformations, witnessing the emergence of new eclectic forms, educational reforms, and the reconstruction of gender norms and social systems. These developments have remained the subject of sustained critical appraisal – from the twentieth-century modernist’s iconoclastic slogan (‘make it new’) to more recent scholarship, which has sought to expand and reorient the horizons of Victorian studies.   

The Victorian Studies Colloquium brings together researchers, particularly PGRs and EGRs, working across a broad range of disciplines concerned with nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century culture. This year’s theme – ‘New Directions in Nineteenth-Century Studies’ – foregrounds interdisciplinary and innovative approaches, encompassing Victorian and Neo-Victorian literature and culture, publishing history, gender studies, and scholarship attentive to postcolonial and global perspectives.

This one-day colloquium provides participants with opportunities to present their projects, explore diverse methodologies in research and pedagogy, and engage in a supportive and collaborative environment. The event invites attendees from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds to work together, contributing to the globalisation of realist paradigms and to conversations that seek to globalise, decolonise, and undiscipline Victorian studies. Through this kaleidoscopic exchange and engagement, the colloquium aims to rethink established frameworks and reflect on future directions in the field.

Proposals

We are delighted to invite papers from researchers at all career stages and across disciplines within the Arts and Humanities.

Proposals are invited for:

• Research presentations (Lightning Talks, 10-15 minutes)
  Papers may address, but are not limited to, any of the following themes:
  • ‘Temporal and Spatial Mobility’
  • ‘Memory, Object and Selfhood’,
  • ‘Dissidence of Truth and Vision’
  • ‘Neo-Victorian Afterlives’,
  • ‘Gender and Generations’
  • ‘Decolonise Victorian studies’.
• Posters of research work
• Other creative work for display in a showcase
• Contributions to a roundtable on ‘Global Victorian Pedagogy’.
  This session seeks to explore questions such as:
  • What is it like to teach Victorian literature in, and from other parts of the world?
  • How best should we decolonise Victorian Studies in both scholarship and pedagogy?
  • How can we better prepare to teach international students and consider academic careers in global contexts?

Submissions

Please submit a proposal (up to 250 words) as an attachment to the conference organisers Bonnie Liu and Helen Kingstone, at victorianstudiesrhul@gmail.com.

Please include: your name, institutional affiliation (if applicable), and the format of paper you would like to offer (a lightning talk, a poster or other creative work for display, or contribution to the ‘Global Victorian Pedagogy’ roundtable).   

Deadline: Friday 13^th February 2026, 5pm GMT.

Due to scheduling constraints, we may not be able to accept all proposals; however, all are very welcome to attend the event! We warmly welcome any queries and look forward to receiving your proposals.