April 20, 2009
McNeil Center for Early American Studies
3355 Woodland Walk, UPenn Campus
Philadelphia, PA, 19104
This symposium will bring together a group of eminent scholars working in literature and history (roughly 1550-1800) to discuss issues concerning the methodological, theoretical and institutional aspects of doing comparative, transnational work in the early modern period. Exciting work on transnationalism has emerged with regard to the premodern period from economic historians such as R. Bin Wong and Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Such economic historians have acknowledged the need to bring questions of culture into their discussions. On the other hand, literary critics have long spoken about the need to engage with economic history. However, as yet such dialogues between literary studies, literary history, history and economic history are in their infancy. Transnational Pasts will stage such a dialogue by bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines whose work has been consequential for discussions of transnationalism and global relations in the early modern period, as well as faculty and graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania.
The symposium is free and open to the public. All are welcome, no pre-registration required.