RHN 23/2014 | Call
4-6 September 2014, Bettyhill, Scotland
Deadline: 31 March 2014
Land and People in the Northern Highlands
The Strathnaver Conference
In 2014 it will be 200 years since the Clearances in Strathnaver associated with Patrick Sellar. It will also be 300 years since the renowned Gaelic poet Rob Donn was born in neighbouring Strathmore. The confluence of history, archaeology and literature inspires this interdisciplinary conference which, with a special focus on the old Province of Strathnaver in Mackay Country or Dùthaich MhicAoidh, seeks to examine the relationship between land and people in the northern Highlands. There will be two keynote speakers. Professor Eric Richards from Flinders University, Adelaide, and Jim Hunter, Professor Emeritus at the University of the Highlands and Islands.
Proposals for academic papers investigating topics such as the clearances, emigration, representations of the far north, warfare, estate policy, poetry, songs or prose, public history or land issues from the late medieval period to the twentieth century are invited. Those with a particular emphasis on Strathnaver or Rob Donn would be especially welcome.
The aim is to bring people together, to discuss and present their work. This gathering is open to every level of interest, contributing towards a diversity of views of the past and present interests within Mackay Country. Attendance and participation by all sorts of people who have a curiosity in and a fascination for this topic and this place will guarantee a stimulating and provocative event.
The conference is being funded with assistance from The Carnegie Trust, and will be held in Bettyhill, on the north coast of Scotland from Thursday 4th to Saturday 6th September 2014. A field trip is included.
There is a possibility of publication of selected papers in a themed issue of the journal Northern Scotland. www.euppublishing.com/nor
Please send a 200 word proposal for a thirty minute paper along with a short biography to Elizabeth Ritchie at the following email address by 31st March 2014. Elizabeth.Ritchie@uhi.ac.uk
Source: www.royalhistoricalsociety.org