British Studies Seminar, University of Texas at Austin

British Studies, officially the Faculty Seminar on British Studies is a weekly seminar at the University of Texas at Austin that has met continually since 1975.[1] British Studies is directed by Wm. Roger Louis, a founding member of the seminar and a distinguished historian at the University of Texas. The seminar is sponsored by the British Studies Program at UT, a program that also appoints junior fellows annually from among UT's faculty, and offers Churchill Scholarships to graduate students and undergraduates. The seminar has produced a book series—with the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center and I.B. Tauris of London— containing a selection of lectures delivered to the seminar: Adventures with Britannia (1995), More Adventures with Britannia (1998), Still More Adventures with Britannia (2003), Yet More Adventures with Britannia (2005), Penultimate Adventures with Britannia (2008), and Ultimate Adventures with Britannia (2009).

The British Studies seminar is held in the Tom Lea Room of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. "Imagine the setting," writes Wm. Roger Louis, the director. "Dark wood paneling, the occasional Topolski paintings of Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene, and spacious glass windows. A magnificent seminar table overlooks a courtyard graced with live oaks and the scattered ashes of one of the founding members of the seminar. On arrival at the seminar, the participants help themselves to a glass of Tio Pepe or Dry Sack sherry, though teetotalers prefer cranberry juice. Sherry has come to symbolize the attitude. The seminar meets to examine in a civilized way whatever happens to be on the agenda, Scottish or Indian, Canadian or Jamaican, English or Australian. The discussion is civil, but sometimes grows a bit heated. What makes the debate engrossing is the clash of different perspectives—including those of lawyers, physicians, retired ambassadors, and others of the larger Austin community."[2]

Notable Seminar Lectures

A full list of all lectures is available in Burnt Orange Britannia [3]

1970s

Fall Semester 1976
Spring Semester 1976
Fall Semester 1976
Spring Semester 1977
Fall Semester 1977
Spring Semester 1978
Fall Semester 1978
Spring Semester 1979
Fall Semester 1979

1980s

Spring Semester 1980

Footnotes

  1. See for details the collection of autobiographies produced by members of the British Studies seminar: Wm. Roger Louis (ed.), Burnt Orange Britannia (London: I.B. Tauris, 2005).
  2. Wm. Roger Louis, Burnt Orange Britannia (London: I.B. Tauris, 2005), pp. v-vi.
  3. Wm. Roger Louis, Burnt Orange Britannia (London: I.B. Tauris, 2005), pp. 907-952.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.