CFP: BAVS 2026 Conference Liverpool

BAVS Liverpool 2026
27 – 29 July 2026

Keynote Speakers: Dr Alison Chapman (University of Victoria, BC), others to be confirmed.

The Centre for Modern and Contemporary History (CMCH) at Liverpool John Moores invites you to Liverpool for BAVS 2026. Founded in 2000, the British Association for Victorian Studies supports and promotes research in Britain and beyond. This year’s conference Planning Team represents the richness of Victorian history and research in the City, with colleagues from LJMU, University of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University and National Museums Liverpool.

There will be no specific theme for the conference. Papers on any aspect of long-nineteenth-century studies from across Art History, Music, Maritime History, Theatre History, the History of Science, Literature and History, to name a few, are welcome.

Liverpool is a cultural port city with a rich, if at times contentious, heritage, providing a framework for discussion of Victorian Studies in the twenty-first century. The City mirrors many of the exciting social, cultural and economic innovations of the period, from the Philharmonic Hall and its Orchestra to the many theatres. We would particularly like to attract papers that engage with this myriad of narratives, reaching across disciplines. Victorian Liverpool encapsulates the diversity of Victorian studies, broadening out to the provinces, bringing migrants from Scotland, Ireland and Wales to the City, extending the reach of Britain into the Empire and beyond; both who went out from Liverpool and who settled here. Here ‘Victorian’ is not a static concept, but transcends the immediate locale while still being shaped by it. We
welcome papers that examine the rich cultural tapestry the city stimulates, whilst continuing to address the broader controversies of the period.

The Liverpool Planning Team welcome proposals for 20-minute papers, but proposals for creative, non-traditional, craft approaches to presentation will be welcome. We would particularly like to attract proposals for Roundtable sessions on areas like Pedagogy, Research Methods, Theatre and Music History. If people would like to organise shorter lightning papers and panels then please contact the Planning Team to discuss this.

Please submit proposals to: bavs2026liverpool@gmail.com by no later than November 30th 2025.