EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM OF HUMANITIES INSTITUTES AND CENTRES (ECHIC) Inside/OUT - A European Conference for the Humanities 2017
Dear Members of ECHIC,
We are writing on behalf of the ECHIC Board and the local organising committee to invite you to the 2017 ECHIC Conference at the University of Edinburgh.
Under the heading of Inside/OUT, we are organising an exciting series of plenary lectures, panels and lightning talks. We have now opened the Conference Website for registration, and you will find details here: https://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/insideout, including information about Early Bird registration and accommodation options. As further details are confirmed, the programme will be filled out, and we encourage you to check back in due course.
My reason for writing to you is in order to make sure that you know about some special events that are taking place on Wednesday 5 April at the Scottish Parliament as part of the Conference. The Conference opens with a welcome lunch and then the ECHIC AGM at the beginning of the Conference. This will be held at the Scottish Parliament, and as with all of the events the Parliament we need to have all names of attendees in place because of the security precautions that have to be applied. Lunch is at 1300 and the AGM will be at 1400. Those intending to come to the lunch should arrive by 1230. Those intending to come for the AGM should arrive by 1330. We hope that as many ECHIC Centres and Institutes will be represented as possible by the Director or other member or staff.
In the afternoon, there will be a Networking Meeting, also at the Parliament, to discuss the challenges facing Humanities disciplines in Universities today. This will bring together members of the so-called VPASH group within Scottish Universities – that is, Vice Principals, Pro-Vice Chancellors and Deans with responsibilities for arts, humanities and social sciences, with representatives of the Irish Humanities Alliance (IHA), the Board of ECHIC, and Directors of ECHIC member centres and institutes across Europe who are attending the conference. Topics will include financial challenges, ‘intellectual’ challenges concerning the relevance of humanities disciplines today and the role of interdisciplinary working, and institutional challenges, including the role of organisations such as the IHA, ECHIC, and university-based entities such as interdisciplinary centres or institutes of advanced studies. We hope that it will be possible to foster networking and mutual learning between different groups with roots in different national systems of HE (with their different funding models and models of institutional autonomy), and amongst those with experience of working intensively to foster collaboration and the good health of humanities disciplines across national borders and disciplinary ‘boundaries’. All delegates at the Conference are welcome at this Networking Meeting, although we need details and numbers for security purposes.
This meeting will run from 1630 until 1800, and those intending to attend only the meeting should arrive at the Parliament at 1600 to go through security procedures. After the networking meeting there will be an opportunity to tour the Scottish Parliament building (http://www.parliament.scot/visitandlearn/9983.aspx).
Finally, there will be a wine reception on at 1830, to which all those who attended the meeting and also other conference delegates are welcome. This will be held within the Members’ Room at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Those intending to come for the reception should arrive at 1800 to go through security procedures.
The normal conference events then start from 0930 (registration 0830) on Thursday 6 April at John McIntyre Conference Centre at the University of Edinburgh’s Pollock Halls, in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat. The formal Conference events conclude with a lunch at 1245 on Friday 7 April.
As indicated above, the conference website is now open for registrations, and we look forward to receiving your registrations. However, in the event that you will be coming to the events at 5 April, we would be grateful if you could also RSVP to laura.smith1@ed.ac.uk, as soon as possible, and in any event before 24 March, giving details of any dietary requirements that you might have and which of the above events you will be attending.
With best wishes
Yours sincerely,
Jo Shaw
Director of IASH
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