【Call for Papers | HKHC & HKIHSS Conference: Journeys】
20-21st June 2024, University of Hong Kong
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
‘Little Gidding’, T.S. Eliot
What can we learn about Hong Kong’s history from thinking about journeys? Hong Kong was a point of arrival, and a point of departure; it was a waypoint, and a port of call; it was a place of entrapment, and a place of release. Journeys were made around and through Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories and islands, on land, on water, and in the air. We can think of journeys as a metaphor, as well as thinking about them literally; we can consider individual journeys, and the movement of families and groups; we can think about people, and we can think about non-human journeys, as well as modes of travel. There is scope to consider the restriction, and the facilitation and encouragement of mobility, and of the journey as a means to an end and as an end in itself, and of risk, and of opportunity.
This conference, co-organised by the Hong Kong History Centre at the University of Bristol, and the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, takes the theme of journeys and journeying as its topic, and we invite proposals for papers that take this as point of departure for new discussions of the history of Hong Kong in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
- Diasporas
- Microhistory
- Biographies, family histories, intimate history
- Immigrations
- Trade and commodities
- Environment and ecology
- Technology and transportation
Proposals are invited for individual papers of 20 minutes, or for panels including three such papers. We encourage and will prioritize proposals for focused panels that speak to the abovementioned themes. To submit a proposal for consideration, send an abstract of 300 words (maximum) and 1-page cv by 15 February 2024 to hkhistory-centre@bristol.ac.uk. Accepted participants will be notified by 1 March 2024.
We expect to provide a reasonable contribution to the expenses incurred for postgraduate students and/or early career researchers to present at the conference. To be considered, please submit with your application a short statement outlining your research interests, purpose in attending the conference, an estimated budget of expenses, and availability of funding from your institution.
Keynote speakers
Sophie Loy-Wilson, University of Sydney
Zhou Taomo, Nanyang Technological University
Vivian Kong, University of Bristol
Important Dates:
- Abstract and CV Submission Deadline: 15 February 2024
- Acceptance Notification: by 1 March 2024
- Conference Date: 20-21 June 2024
Conference Venue: University of Hong Kong