Society for the Study of French History
Minutes of a Committee Meeting held on 11 October 2003 at the Institute of Historical
Research, London
Present: Richard Bonney, Gwynne Lewis, Mark Greengrass, Sharif Gemie, Amanda Sackur,
Pamela Pilbeam, Penny Roberts, John Dunne, Peter Campbell, Luc Racaut, Malcolm Crook,
Ian Sygrave, Geoff Watkins, Mike Rapport.
Apologies were received from: Bill Doyle, Joe Bergin, Michael Jones, Guy Rowlands, Tim
Baycroft, Detmar Klein.
1)
Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2002: These were approved.
2)
Matters Arising: Progress on the recruitment of a North American membership
secretary needs to be investigated. Action: Mike to contact Guy.
3)
Report from the Trustees: The committee agreed the following, subject to the
approval of the Trustees:
a)
Website: £2500 to be spent in the first instance on the website, followed by £1000 per
annum for its maintenance. These funds would come from the Ralph Gibson Fund. The
SSFH is to sign a three-year agreement with the University of Greenwich for the maintenance
of the website.
b)
Newsletter: That the Ralph Gibson Fund be used to support the production and
distribution of the French Historian.
c)
Conferences: A kitty of £1500 from the Ralph Gibson Fund would be used to support
the extraordinary expenses incurred by the SSFH conference, particularly where the host
university, for example, demanded large deposits; or where the travel costs and maintenance
for keynote speakers were not met by other sources. These funds would be carefully spent,
and before any such expenditure was made, the conference organiser would liaise with the
Conference Officer, Peter Campbell. This fund would be reviewed at the 2005 conference.
Action: Penny and Peter.
d)
Postgraduate Research Grants: The SSFH would now award a total of £4,000 each
year to research students, who may apply for grants of up to £500, though postgraduates may
apply for grants below this maximum. The total number of awards, consequently, would be
increased from the usual number of two or three to eight or more. Eligible postgraduates
would be registered at a UK University, must be undertaking research into French history and
they would now include those registered for taught MAs, provided they are writing a
dissertation on French history; students working towards degrees in MA by research in
French history; as well as M.Phil/PhD students working on French history who are at any
stage in their research. The new deadline would be 1 February 2004. The scheme would be
reviewed after three years. The conference bursaries would remain unchanged. Action:
Richard to seek approval from the Trustees and Mike subsequently to advertise.
4)
Report from the Secretary: The trustees were thanked for their adjudication in the
bursary awards. There were three winners of postgraduate research bursaries:
Nancy Collins, University College London, 'Myths of the Salon? Eighteenth-Century French
Spaces and Sociabilities'.
Vanessa Miéville-Smith, Royal Holloway, University of London, 'French memory of the
German occupation and of the Algerian War'.
Anne Thidemann, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 'The history and development of art
dealing in Paris, 1884-1914'.
Mike also noted that the terms of Detmar Klein and Dave Morris had now expired on the
committee. They were warmly thanked for their service. Two new postgraduate
representatives would need to be elected at the Annual General Meeting at Warwick. The
Committee was asked to find likely candidates before then. Action: all and John the
advertise on the website.
5)
Report from the Editor of the Website: John Dunne was formally appointed editor of
the website.
John also required an up-to-date list of committee members and their responsibilities.
Vacancies on the committee would also be advertised on the website. Action: Mike and
John.
It was agreed that collectively the website editor, newsletter editor and the secretary would
copy all their messages to each other, so that information published on the website and in the
French Historian would be uniform. Action: John, Luc and Mike.
6)
Report from the Membership Secretary: It was agreed that all changes to the
membership list would be circulated among the treasurer, the membership secretary and the
secretary, to ensure uniformity and consistent up-dating in the lists held by all three. Any
changes would also be sent to the editors of the website and the newsletter. Action: Guy,
Geoff and Mike.
7)
Report from the Treasurer: as of 2 October 2003, the current account stood at
£4031.53. Although the three bursaries (£1500) still had to be paid out, this is a healthy
balance. The Post Office account stands at £7347.54, while the Ralph Gibson Fund currently
sits at £35259.32.
8)
Report from the Conference Officer:
(a)
Nottingham conference, 2003: congratulations were offered to the organisers of this
year's successful conference, which honoured Norman Hampson.
(b)
Warwick Conference, 1-2 April 2004: Penny Roberts was thanked for taking on the
task of organising next year's conference at such short notice. A call for papers, on the
theme of 'Belief and Dissent', had been issued, with a deadline of 30 November 2003.
Plenary speakers had been invited. The conference will be advertised on the website;
publishers who might want to display books and journals have been contacted (Geoff has a
list of publishers which he will forward to Peter for this and future use). Penny will find a slot
for the Society's AGM, while Mike will arrange a time for the informal committee meeting, to
be held at some point during the conference. Action: John, Geoff, Penny, Mike.
(c)
2005 and future conferences: Jackie Clark has offered Southampton as a venue for
2005, with provisional dates; Peter Campbell has offered Sussex for 2006, on the theme of
'Power', while Guy has offered Durham for 2007.
It was noted that a dossier about the Society and its conference is required, to ensure
continuity in relations with the French cultural attaché. Action: Peter.
9) Report from the Editor of French History: The flow of copy is good and Malcolm is
producing themed issues, one edited by Norman Ingram on 'War and Peace'. Another
innovation is the introduction of Review Articles.
Gillian, the copy-editor, is retiring, with her replacement to be in place in time to work on
Volume 18 (March 2004). Gillian and her husband have been invited to the conference at
Warwick.
10)
Report from the Editor of the French Historian: Luc Racaut has agreed to take on the
editorship of the newsletter, although production will stay at Greenwich. See also the Action
point under item 5, above.
A timetable for the production of each issue would also be produced for the committee.
Action: Luc.
11) Report from the Schools Organiser: Ian reported that the situation with 'A' levels has not
yet been clarified. Meanwhile, a pressing problem is that there is a lack of interest and
opportunity for school pupils to take French history. Moreover, the government inspectorate
has estimated that 85-90% of the pupils taking history study only the 20th century. Ian asked
what the SSFH could do to encourage both the study of French history and of earlier periods.
Mike and Ian were asked to liaise to draft a letter to the Royal Historical Society, the Institute
of Historical Research and the Historical Association, to raise these concerns and to lobby on
behalf of French history and earlier periods. A bibliography of cheap, accessible books which
could be used in the teaching of such topics would also be drawn up (such as the Longman
'Seminar Studies' series), with the help of all committee members. Action: all, but especially
Ian and Mike.
12) Date of next meeting: 1st or 2nd April 2004, at Warwick.