Category: WSG News

2025 – 2026 Call for papers from the Women’s Studies Group: 1558-1837 (London) 

The Women’s Studies Group 1558-1837 is a small, informal, multidisciplinary group formed to promote women’s studies in the early modern period and the long eighteenth century. Established in the 1980s, the group has enabled those interested in women’s and gender studies to keep in touch, hear about one another’s research, meetings and publications, and meet regularly to discuss relevant topics. We organize regular meetings and an annual workshop (see membership application form) where members can meet and discuss women’s studies topics. This season we shall also be hosting two book launches for publications by our members. We can offer advice and opportunities to engage in activities that increase opportunities for publication or enhance professional profiles in other ways. The WSG is open to men, women, and non-binary people, students, faculty, and independent scholars, all of whom are invited to join the group and give papers.

The group now has two kinds of meetings for seminars.

In-person seminar meetings. These will take place at the Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AZ, UK, on Saturday afternoons. We will be allowed into the room at 1.00 pm., to give us time to sort out paperwork and technology, but sessions will run from 1.30 – 4.30 pm. So please arrive a little early if you can.

ZOOM seminar meetings. These will take place on Thursday evenings and will be hosted by a member of the WSG committee. They will run from 19:00 – 20:30 GMT , with the waiting room opening at 18.45 GMT.

Topics can be related to any aspect of women’s studies: not only women writers, but any activity of a woman or women in the period of our concern, or anything that affects or is affected by women in this period, such as the law, religion, etc. Male writers writing about women or male historical figures relevant to the condition of women in this period are also a potential topic. Papers tackling aspects of women’s studies within or alongside the wider histories of gender and sexuality are particularly welcome; so are topics from the early part of our period. We would also welcome how-to presentations for discussion: examples of suitable topics would include, but are not limited to, grant applications, setting up research networks, becoming a curator, co-authorship, using specialised data, and writing about images. Papers should be 20-25 minutes.

Dates of seminar meetings: 
Saturday 4 October 2025In-person, Foundling Museum London 13:00 for 13:30 – 16:30, British Summer Time (GMT +1)
Thursday 6 November 2025ZOOM 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT)
Saturday 6 December 2025In-person, Foundling Museum, London 13:00 for 13:30 – 16:30 (GMT)
Thursday 15 January 2026ZOOM 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT)
Thursday 12 March 2026  ZOOM 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT)
Saturday 7 February  2026  In-person, Foundling Museum, London 13:00 for 13:30 – 16:30 (GMT) 

Find out more about us on https://womensstudiesgroup.org

Please reply to 2wsgevents@gmail.com with expressions of interest and draft titles, listing all the seminar sessions when you are available to present your paper by 31 April 2025.  

Final titles and abstracts will be expected to follow by the end of May 2025. 

WSG Member Organizes Italian Conference on Aphra Behn

The Women’s Studies Group 1558-1837 is pleased to announce an exciting international conference, “APHRA BEHN TRA PAGINA E TEATRO” (Aphra Behn Between Page and Stage), taking place on 20-21 March 2025 at Teatro Due Parma, Italy. Our esteemed member, Francesca Saggini, is part of the organizing committee for this groundbreaking event, which represents the first event of its kind in Italy dedicated to the pioneering English author Aphra Behn.

About the Conference

This international conference, jointly organized by the Fondazione Teatro Due and the Università di Parma, will explore Behn’s remarkable contributions to literature and theatre, as well as the historical period in which she lived—a time combining “the charm of licentiousness with the violence of intrigue, marked by political and socio-cultural upheavals, scientific and artistic innovations.” The conference examines a crucial period spanning the English Civil War, the Stuart Restoration, and the Glorious Revolution through the lens of Behn’s work.

The event benefits from the support of institutions including the University of Oxford (The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities), University of Cambridge (Lucy Cavendish College), Università degli Studi della Tuscia (Dipartimento di Studi Linguistico-Letterari, Storico-Filosofici e Giuridici), American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, and The Women’s Studies Group, 1558–1837.

Conference Schedule

20 March 2025

  • 15:00 – Institutional greetings
  • 15:15 – “The ingenious Mrs Behn”
    Janet Todd (University of Cambridge)
    The British author and scholar, a leading expert on Aphra Behn and largely responsible for her critical reappraisal in the late 20th century, will discuss her experiences of scholarship and life with this author.
  • 16:00 – “The Divertisements of a Carnival”: orizzonti meridionali e mediterranei nel teatro femminile tra Sei e Settecento
    Diego Saglia (Università di Parma)
    An exploration, starting with The Rover, of southern and Mediterranean settings and their meanings in female comic theatre in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
  • 16:45 – Break
  • 17:00 – “New and old worlds: Aphra Behn and the geographies of prose fiction”
    Ros Ballaster (University of Oxford)
    Astrea’s prose production as a starting point to explore its geographical and cultural imagery.
  • 17:45 – “Playwright for the people: altri palcoscenici per Aphra Behn”
    Francesca Saggini (Università degli Studi della Tuscia)
    An overview of Behn’s reappearance in contemporary culture, not only on stage or in publishing, but also through commemorative events and digital remediations.
  • 18:15 – “Vita Sackville-West e Virginia Woolf: scrivere dopo Aphra Behn”
    Liliana Rampello (Critica letteraria e saggista)
    An evocative reading of reflections on Behn developed by Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf in the early decades of the 20th century.

21 March 2025

  • 16:00 – Opening of proceedings
  • 16:15 – “Boccaccio is in there too: Editing ‘The Rover’ for Cambridge University Press”
    Elaine Hobby (Loughborough University)
    A discussion of philological and annotation strategies based on the experience of editing The Rover for Cambridge University Press.
  • 17:00 – “‘All the Womens partes for this tyme to come may bee performed by Women’: l’avvento delle attrici sui palcoscenici inglesi”
    Maria Chiara Barbieri (Università degli Studi di Firenze)
    A focus on Restoration theatre, particularly the revolutionary phenomenon of actresses appearing on stage following the reopening of London theatres in 1660.
  • 17:45 – Break
  • 18:00 – “Rochester, i ‘court wits’ e il teatro della Restaurazione”
    Masolino D’Amico (Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa)
    An in-depth analysis of the playwrights connected to the court of Charles II, including the controversial Earl of Rochester, and their innovative theatrical productions.
  • 18:45 – “Come mi scrivono: Aphra Behn come personaggio, tra romanzo e teatro”
    Luca Scarlini (Scrittore)
    A broad overview of Behn as playwright and novelist, offering a general picture of the complexity and richness of a figure always inhabiting the space between stage and page.

A Festival of Behn

This conference is the culminating event of a two-month celebration of Aphra Behn taking place in February and March 2025. The broader initiative includes:

  • A new Italian translation and performance of Behn’s play The Rover at Teatro Due
  • Public readings of her prose works including Oroonoko and The History of the Nun
  • The creation of a “docudrama” about the author

The conference welcomes university students and researchers, secondary school teachers and students, and the general public. This represents a significant milestone as the first event of its kind in Italy dedicated to Aphra Behn.

Program Committee

The conference is guided by an esteemed Program Committee comprising Ros Ballaster, Paola Donati, Giacomo Giuntini, Francesca Saggini, Diego Saglia, and Luca Scarlini.

Admission and Reservations

The conference offers free entry (ingresso libero). Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling tel. 0521 230242 or emailing biglietteria@teatrodue.org.

The Women’s Studies Group 1558-1837 is proud to support our member Francesca Saggini in this important endeavor to highlight the work and legacy of one of England’s first professional women writers.

WSG Seminar Reminder: Saturday March 15, 2025 at the Foundling Museum

Saturday March 15, 2025 at the Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N; 1.00 for 1.30 pm, Finishing 4.30 pm Greenwich Mean Time

Susannah Lyon-Whaley: Small Enough to Hold: Stuart Consorts and Knowing Nature Through Cabinets, Miniatures, and Books.

Susan Bennett: ‘Fancy, Design and Taste’: Promoting female artistic talent in the 18th century.

To read the speakers’ abstracts, please find them on the seminars page on the WSG website.

This is an in-person meeting. The seminars are free and open to the public although non-members will be asked to make a donation of £2 for refreshments.

Those attending the seminars are welcome to look round the museum before or after the seminar. We will be allowed into the room at 1.00, Greenwich Mean Time, to give us time to sort out paperwork and technology, but sessions will run from 1.30 – 4.30. Please arrive between 1.00 and 1.30. There is a break for tea, coffee and biscuits halfway through the session.

The Foundling is a wheelchair accessible venue, and directions for getting to the Museum can be found here, including for those who are partially sighted.

If you have any queries please contact the Chair, Carolyn D. Williams, or Co-Chair, Gillian Williamson, by email at wsgworkshop@gmail.com

We look forward to welcoming you.

Reminder: WSG Reading Group, Her Stories, March 10, 2025, 7–8pm (GMT) via Zoom

The next WSG Reading Group, Her Stories, is on 10th March, 7-8pm 2025 (GMT) 

The Women’s Studies Group (WSG) will host its next “Her Stories” Reading Group meeting on March 10th, 2025, from 7-8pm GMT. All members are welcome to participate in this upcoming session, organized and hosted by Karen Lipsedge.

The group will discuss Louise’s selected text: Jennie Batchelor’s The Lady’s Magazine (1770–1832) and the Making of Literary History (2022, Edinburgh University Press). For those unable to read the entire book, Louise recommends either the Conclusion or Chapter 6, “Achievements and Legacies: The Lady’s Magazine in Literary History.”

Members can access a virtual copy of the book through a provided link, though they should note it’s a large file and check their connection in advance. Thanks go to Louise for providing this link.

Each reading group follows a consistent format: the member who selected the text gives a brief introduction explaining their choice, followed by participants sharing one aspect of the text they wish to discuss—whether it relates to characters, style, readership, or even a single word or phrase.

Anyone interested in joining “Her Stories” can contact Karen Lipsedge directly.

Reminder: Special Seminar with Merry Wiesner-Hanks February 13, 2025 via Zoom

Zoom starting at 7.00 pm, finishing at 8.00 pm GMT. Waiting room will open at 6.45pm.

Please join us for our special seminar with distinguished Professor Emerita Merry Wiesner-Hanks who will discuss her book Women and the Reformations. She will speak for 30 minutes, leaving 30 minutes for questions.

If you have not already registered for the event, please contact Valerie Schutte.