Report to Maxine for autumn term (5th of December 2013).
This term I have been busy writing two draft chapters which I presented to our team. I have
undertaken one archive trip (to Sweden). The main purpose of the trip was to access literature
relating to the Swedish East India Company, much of which is not available in UK libraries. This
included 18th century print discussing the prospect of banning silk import to Sweden (from China)
but also 20th century publications. I was also studying the archive of Carl Rappe (Dag-Book För
Skept. Rycksens Ständer på Resan til Surat och Canton Åhr 1760, 61 & 62, KB, M 288) located at the
Royal Library in Stockholm. The latter contains one of the few examples of “protocols” from the
Swedish East India Company trade in Canton.
I have submitted a suggestion for a panel for the Economic History Society’s Conference, which has
been accepted. I am currently organizing a workshop and a seminar to coincide with Deirdre
Coleman’s visit as IAS fellow in January (including setting up a web page for crowdsourcing for
participants in workshop). I have also applied for funding for a workshop on the Scandinavian East
India Company in May (news on this in 10 days).
I attended a meeting with Paul Van Dyke in Oxford in early September, where I also presented my
research (which was very helpful). Another event I took part in was the presentation/reception with
Matt Romaniello (Hawaii) on the 9th of October.
I am currently in the process of catching up on my PCAPP degree. Over the Christmas I need to write
a paper (Pedagogic Review, around 5000 words). This is the first of two papers I will write. I will also
write my sample chapter (Chapter 5 Re-locating global taste and fashion). I need to visit to the
British Library and possibly the Royal College of Art (the Colour Library), either before or after
Christmas.
For my Swedish project I have presented my research at two events:
•
5-7 September, 2013
“Knowledge Generation, Education and Careers – the Role of Travelling in Linnaean Natural History
Travel, Agency, and the Circulation of Knowledge” at the 7th Symposium of the Graduate School:
Cultural Encounters and the Discourses of Scholarship, University of Rostock, Germany), invitation by
Ghesa Mackenthun.
•27 November 2013
(Together with Jacob Orrje) "Att bli svensk i London i början och slutet av 1700-talet", 1700-tals
seminariet, Uppsala Universitet, invitation by Marie Christine Skuncke.
Invitation to future workshops:
•17 Feb 2014
“Inventory work in late eighteenth century Sierra Leone and Sweden: Natural history, political
economy, statehood and citizenship/subjecthood”, Workshop: Scottish Stadial Theory, Natural
History and European Colonisation invitation, Centre for Concurrences in Colonial and Postcolonial
Studies at Linnaeus University