HUMANITIES RESEARCH CENTRE
Annual Report (2000-2001)
This year the Humanities Research Centre organised and supported a variety of conferences
and symposia, drawn from a wide range of Arts Faculty Departments and attracting an
international array of speakers and participants: Mary Robinson, organised by Jackie Labbe
(English); History of Cricket, organised by Dr Joan Lane (History); Desert Monasticism: new
discoveries and new issues, organised by Dr Tony Eastmond (History of Art); Plato in
Progress, organised by Andrew Laird (Classics); Poetry from Piety; organised by Mary Deane
(English) and Takashi Kozuka (Renaissance Studies); Italian Elites Workshop, organised by
Professor Julian Gardner (History of Art); Star Appeal: Stars Beyond the Hollywood
Firmament, organised by Denise Miller and Leila Jordan (HRC Doctoral Fellows); Inventions
of Death: Literature, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, organised by Roger Starling (HRC
Doctoral Fellow); Platonic Provocations, organised by Alexandra de Forest Duer and Ian
Repath (HRC Doctoral Fellows); Utopia and Dystopia: Constructing the European Other;
organised by Dr Piotr Kuhiwczak and Andrew Hammond (CBCCS); Renaissance Readers: an
exploration of author-reader and reader-text relations in Neo-Latin Literature 1400-1600,
organised by Professor Peter Mack (English), Dr Ingrid De Smet (French) and Dr Andrew
Laird (Classics); Translation, Media and Society; organised by Joy Sisley (CBCCS)
The ninth Donald Charlton Lecture, "Marks in the Margin", was given by Professor
Hermione Lee (New College, Oxford). The event, which was very well attended by staff and
students, was held in the Arts Centre Conference Room and was followed by a wine reception
in Senate House sponsored by the Vice-Chancellor.
Dr Eugenio Barba, the world renowned theatre practitioner and scholar, the founder and
director of the Odin Theatre, was the HRC Visiting Fellow in week 5 of the summer term. He
was involved in the research life of the faculty and the wider academic community through
three main events. On Tuesday 22 May, he participated in a round table discussion entitled
‘Towards the Theatre of the Future’. This event, which was chaired by pro Vice-Chancellor
Professor Susan Bassnett, had three other guest speakers: Alan Rivett, Director, Warwick Arts
Centre, Dr Maggie Gale, University of Birmingham and Professor Peter Holland, Director,
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Humanities Research Centre – Annual Report 2000-01
The Shakespeare Institute. On Wednesday 23 May, Dr Barba gave a wide-ranging lecture,
entitled ‘Tracing the Nomadic Tradition: Voices in Theatre Anthropology’ in the Arts Centre
conference room, which was followed by a reception hosted by the acting Vice-Chancellor
Professor Stuart Palmer. The following day, twenty-five lucky Theatre Studies students
participated in a three hour theatre workshop directed by Dr Barba and by Julia Varley, a longterm member of the Odin Theatre. Dr Barba’s visit was stimulating and memorable and we
thank him for giving us so much time in his packed work schedule.
The Centre now sponsors a large number of Faculty-based Interdisciplinary Research
Seminars: Lesbian & Gay Studies, convened by Dr. José Arroyo (Film & TV Studies);
Medieval Studies, convened by Dr. Christiania Whitehead (English) and Dr. Peter Mack
(English); Warwick Workshop for Interdisciplinary German Studies, convened by Dr. Patrick
Major (History), and Dr. Helmut Schmitz (German); 18th Century Reading Group, convened
by Dr. Claire Walsh and Dr Sue Gordon (Luxury Project); War and Genocide Studies Group,
convened by Dr. Mark Levene (History) and Dr. Robin Clifton (History); English Literature
Research Seminar, convened by Dr Karen O’Brien, Lynn Robson and Claire Brock (English);
Research Seminar in Italian Studies convened by Dr Simon Gilson (Italian) and Gallery Talks
in conjunction with the Mead Gallery. This year saw the addition of Seminars in Women’s
History convened by Maria Luddy (History). These seminars discuss research, invite outside
speakers, and develop research proposals.
In conjunction with the Warwick Research Fellows Scheme, the Centre has co-sponsored an
“Interdisciplinary Seminar in the Humanities”, organised by Dr Jackie Labbe (English) and Dr
Penny Roberts (History), featuring speakers from within the Faculty and from the wider
scholarly community. Speakers included: Andrew Milner (Monash), Fernando Cervantes
(Bristol), David Wallace (Pennsylvania), Sally Shuttleworth (Sheffield), Andrew McRae
(Exeter), Katie Scott (Courtauld Institute), Andrew Benjamin (Warwick) and Stephen Daniels
(Nottingham)
The Warwick Humanities Series, published by the Humanities Research Centre in
collaboration with Ashgate, aims to bring together innovative work of a high academic
standard which crosses disciplinary borders in the Arts and Humanities. It provides a forum
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for volumes exploring new dimensions of cultural history from the early modern period to the
present, and for works that investigate aspects of contemporary cultural production within and
across national boundaries. The series reflects the breadth of the interdisciplinary work carried
out at Warwick's Humanities Research Centre, and includes work of both European and extraEuropean scope. The series is edited by Dr. Loredana Polezzi (Italian Studies), Dr. Adrian
Heathfield (Theatre Studies) and Dr. Karen O’Brien (English & Comparative Literature).
The World of Savonarola, Edited by Christine Shaw and Stella Fletcher appeared at the end of
2000, and two further volumes (In a Queer Place, Edited by Kate Chedgzoy, Emma Francis
and Murray Pratt; German Culture and the Undesirable Past: Representations of National
Socialism in Contemporary Germanic Literature, Edited by Helmut Schmitz) will be
published over the next few months.
After its re-launch last year, the series has received a number of new book proposals. A
collection of essays on Italo Calvino and a monograph on George Eliot have already been
approved for publication, while proposals for volumes on Umberto Eco and on EighteenCentury British women writers, translators and travellers are being evaluated.
Titles in the Series:
Acts of War, Tony Howard and John Stokes
David Jones, Artist and Poet, Edited by Paul Hills
George Eliot and Europe, Edited by John Rignall
Epistolary Selves, Edited by Rebecca Earle
The World of Savonarola, Edited by Christine Shaw and Stella Fletcher
In a Queer Place, Edited by Kate Chedgzoy, Emma Francis and Murray Pratt (forthcoming)
German Culture and the Undesirable Past: Representations of National Socialism in
Contemporary Germanic Literature, Edited by Helmut Schmitz (forthcoming)
Through the Research and Teaching Innovations Funding Sub-Committee, the Centre was
able to support a number of individual research projects, and contribute funds and provide
administrative support to academic conferences to be held in the next academic year.
With support from the University Research Committee and the Graduate School, the Centre
continues to sponsor three (internal) Doctoral Fellows annually. These Fellows contribute to
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the life of the HRC by organising a one-day post-graduate interdisciplinary conference, and
are given financial support for their PhD dissertation research.
The Humanities Research Centre continues to provide the administration for the Research
Incentive Scheme which aims to encourage external grant applications. This scheme, now in
its final year offers financial help to all Faculty staff who make an application for external
funding for research as well as information on further help to be obtained from the University.
From 2001-2002, the Research Incentive Scheme will be replaced by another scheme also
directed towards stimulating research within the Faculty. It will run for three years, funded by
a £32,000 grant to the Humanities made by the departing Vice Chancellor Sir Brian Follett.
The HRC wishes to thank Sir Brian for the support that he gave to the Faculty and the HRC
over the years.
The criteria for the new scheme are to be drawn up in the summer vacation, 2001, and will be
circulated to Faculty members at the beginning of the 2001-2002 academic year. The HRC
also welcomes the Humanities Research Development Officer, Dr Liese Perrin, who is based
for half of her working week in the HRC office. Dr Perrin has been of great assistance to the
HRC as we formulate our research plans for the next few years.
Professor John King
Director
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Humanities Research Centre – Annual Report 2000-01