CFP: Transatlantic Digitised Newspaper Symposium (London, 28 April 2017)

Large quantities of historical newspapers have been digitised on both sides of the Atlantic, either by the public hand, commercial companies or in public/private partnership. Joining these separate resources together holds huge promise for computational, 'big data' research in humanities subjects such as cultural history, as researchers can now track the transnational flow of information around the globe across historical periods.

This Transatlantic Newspapers Symposium, co-sponsored by the Eccles Centre at the British Library and University College London and convened by Ryan Cordell (Northeastern University) and Ulrich Tiedau (UCL), will bring together researchers advancing innovative approaches to the digitized archives of historical American and British newspapers, with a particular eye toward research that bridges - or could help bridge - collections siloed along national lines. This symposium will build on the work of a smaller summit held at UCL in May 2016. We envision this symposium not as a venue to present papers, but instead as a working group focused on sharing exciting new methods; investigating pressing problems in digital newspaper research, exploring possibilities for strategic cooperation among participants, perhaps to include the development of joint funding proposals; and enabling graduate students and faculty to begin collaborations toward investigating the transoceanic circulation of information during the long 19th century. We aim to keep this a relatively small gathering that can be shaped and directed by the group's discussion and evolving priorities.

If you are working in this area and would be interested in joining this conversation, please submit a brief summary of your research, including what you would hope to contribute to the symposium, as well as a brief biographical note/cv to Ryan Cordell (r.cordell@northeastern.edu) and Ulrich Tiedau (u.tiedau@ucl.ac.uk) by 15 February 2017. We will review applications and respond very soon after this date, to ensure participants have ample time to plan travel.

We will be able to offer a limited amount of travel support. If you have no possibility of institutional or project funding, please let us know in your application email and we will strive to assist, as our modest budget allows.