Our Celebration’s CFP:

This serves as the Call for Papers for the 2026 Britain and the World Conference.

As ever, the conference is concerned with interactions between Britain and the wider world, past and present, and will highlight the importance of transnational perspectives. As a conference and society concerned with British Studies, we welcome papers from relevant disciplines on all topics and periods.

This year, however, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the first Britain and the World Conference in 2006, we are having a two-weekend academic event for our organisation: “Two Weeks for Two Decades of BATW.” 

Our first week’s event will be an online conference and workshop from Saturday, 18 to Sunday, 19 April 2026, allowing scholars from across the globe to easily connect and present their work in a vibrant and intellectually stimulating environment. This online conference will include a plenary, pedagogy workshops, and a Zoom happy hour (it is BATW after all!)

Week two of our conference event will be in-person in Boston, Massachusetts, from Friday, 24 to Saturday, 25 April 2026. Heather Salter and the Department of History at Northeastern University will be our gracious hosts.

Northeastern University, situated in the historic city of Boston, is a globe-spanning institution and history department with a major focus on World History. The conference venue on campus is conveniently connected to public transportation, and Logan International Airport has multiple daily flights to the UK. It will be the shortest flight from the UK to BATW ever! 

We accept individual twenty-minute talks as well as complete panel submissions and roundtables for both our in-person and online events. Abstracts should be 250-300 words. Panels are expected to consist of three or four papers and should be submitted by one person who is willing to serve as the point of contact. Complete panels should also include a chair. In addition to abstracts for each individual paper, panel and roundtable submissions should also include a 100-150-word introduction describing the main theme, and a set of keywords. The conference does not discriminate between panels and individual paper submissions, nor between graduate students and established academics.

Please submit your abstracts or panel submissions for our online event here.

Please submit your abstracts or panel submissions for our conference in Boston here.

Remember, the conference in Boston will be in-person only, and anyone who wishes to present virtually is invited to take part in our virtual conference the previous week. 

As usual, we'll be awarding a prize for the best conference paper, which will include conditional acceptance for publication in the peer-reviewed Britain and World journal (Edinburgh University Press). All conference participants are eligible.

The journal editor and series editors for our book series will also be present, and both the book series and journal editors would be very happy to discuss proposals and submissions to each.

All submissions for inclusion in both weekends should be received by Friday, 28 November 2025 with decisions announced by Friday, 12 December 2025.

Updates regarding the conference will periodically be posted on the BATW website. It is hoped that participants will be able to call upon their departments for hotel and transportation expenses as the Society – which is non-profit – is not able to offer financial support. Please be aware that, because of the anticipated size of our conference this year, we have not arranged a hotel partner for this conference. A list of potential hotel and housing options near campus will be provided closer to the registration date. 

Follow updates for the conference on our Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky pages, and don't forget to use #BATW2026 when you post! 

Registration for the Conference will open at the start of 2026.

Conference registration rates will be forthcoming, along with plenary and other details. 

If you have any questions about the conference, please feel free to email: conference@britainandtheworld.org.

And please share this CFP! Thank you.