Hailing from Berkeley, California to Budapest, from Amsterdam to Brussels but above all from all corners of the UK, the ALCS welcomed over forty delegates and speakers to the 10th Biennial Conference at University College London from 10-12 September 2014.
The conference theme ‘Discord and Consensus’ was explored from a variety of angles in plenary meetings, panels and themed sessions. The presentations on linguistics, literature, history and art history were a clear testimony to the depth and breadth of Dutch Studies in the UK and beyond. In collaboration with the UCL Centre for Low Countries Studies, the programme also included an evening of poetry by Ester Naomi Perquin.
Our UCL colleagues pulled off an impeccable organisation and in addition to the quality of the papers, many delegates commented on the constructive spirit of the conference. One of our up and coming colleagues Dr Nick Piercey (UCL) noted: ‘I really enjoyed the conference; it was easily the most enjoyable one I have been to and it felt so warm, welcoming and vibrant. I might be a new member of the ALCS, but it was a wonderful atmosphere and I picked up lots of new ideas in a range of topics.’
On the last day of the conference, delegates visited the British Museum where they were shown a collection of rare and interesting Dutch books by curator Marja Kingma.
All contributors are invited to submit their papers for the conference volume with the working title Discord and Consensus in the Low Countries in the Crossways series that accompanies Dutch Crossing. To be included we would like to invite you to submit your paper on or preferably before 31 October 2014 via the conference website.
The conference was made possible with financial support of the Nederlandse Taalunie, the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the Flemish Representation in the UK.