Early Modern Reading Group

The Early Modern Reading Group (EMRG) was formed in 2008 to bring together people working in the field of early modern studies to discuss scholarship pertinent to their current research interests. It was intended to provide a forum where scholars from different disciplines might meet to engage with each other’s research and potentially forge collaborative projects. It was particularly concerned to provide an environment in which postgraduate and early career researchers might present their work and benefit from the support of a research community which was familiar with their chosen period and field of research.

EMRG welcomes scholars from all disciplines, academic institutions, and levels – we currently have members from the University of Adelaide and Flinders University, including current and retired academic staff, honours and postgraduate students, and interested members of the community from the disciplines of Art History, Classics, English, and History.

Since its foundation, EMRG has met monthly. Its early discussions focussed upon the formation of public opinion and the emergence of a public sphere in a period pre-dating the classic Habermasian model. In 2009 it organized a highly successful one-day Symposium at the University of Adelaide, “Studying the Past in Present-day Adelaide” which showcased the work of postgraduate and early career researchers, as well as promoting the rich resources for studying the early modern period available in the University of Adelaide’s Barr Smith Library, Flinders University Library, the State Library, and also the Art Gallery of South Australia. EMRG is currently debating the function of gossip and rumour in the medieval and early modern periods. There is a Symposium planned for February 2011 on this theme, and the convenors are planning a special issue of Parergon, the leading Australasian journal for medieval and early modern studies, which is intended to provide a multidisciplinary approach to the ways gossip and rumour informed cultural and political life from the early middle ages to the 18th century.

EMRG meets on the second Wednesday of each month in Napier 420 (Stretton Room).

Convenors
Dr Heather Kerr (heather.kerr@adelaide.edu.au)
Dr Helen Payne (helen.payne@adelaide.edu.au)
Dr Claire Walker (claire.i.walker@adelaide.edu.au)

Programme
Next meeting Wednesday 13 October.