The LHPC Team
Lancaster History Postgraduate Conference, formally Histfest, is a conference for postgraduates (both taught and research students) and early career researchers. LHPC has been hosted at Lancaster University by its postgraduate history community since 1995.
This year the conference’s theme is ‘continuity and change’. The mechanics of profound change in human life have received the most attention in the history of history; the organising committee has a genuine interest in the deep continuities that move with or even defy such events.
LHPC has long taken an interdisciplinary approach, and this year, we are seeking papers from all disciplines to make the conference as dynamic and diverse as possible. In 2022 a very successful LHPC had speakers from management schools and creative writing departments, and this year, we hope to increase participation from the social and natural sciences. Papers should have a historical theme, but historians and non-historians alike have much to gain from each other’s disciplines. How does your discipline think about change over time? Or how has our thinking about topics like proteins, sustainable building or investment banking changed over time? And what key technical details are historians missing when historians try to write about these things?
The organising committee are very excited to announce that this year’s keynote speaker is Lucio Biasiori, Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Padua in Italy. Lucio will be talking about the history of emotions using the vehicle of the life of an apocalyptic text through the Middle Ages and into the early modern period.
There is much to be gained from speaking at LHPC. You will have to write an interesting paper to present. Presenting your paper in a different way will make you think about your research in new ways, and it will help you become more confident when talking about your research. But, you will be presenting to your peers – academics at similar stages in their careers – and you can be confident that your work will be received warmly in a supportive environment. If you’re new to public speaking in academia, LHPC is a great place to start. It is also a great place to meet postgraduates from all over Britain and beyond and marvel at their cutting-edge research.
It would be remiss of us not to mention that there are strong ties between LHPC and EPOCH, an online history magazine that wants to publish your postgraduate research. Many excellent articles have come out of LHPC papers, and yours could be next.
This year’s conference will be held on 29-30 June and will once again be in Lancaster University’s new Management School extension, the West Pavilion. As well as two high-capacity lecture theatres, the West Pavilion hosts a large breakout area and is a thirty-second walk from a Costa Coffee. It is also a thirty-second walk from a bus stop, from which a short ride can see you to the historic centre of Lancaster and our train station on the West Coast Main Line. You can find more information about how to get to Lancaster University on our website. There is some funding available for travel and accommodation, so if you will not be reimbursed by your research sponsor, do get in touch. These resources are limited, so please think about whether you really need them.
This year’s organising committee is made up of volunteer PhD and MA students from Lancaster University’s history department. We have recruited MA students to help run the conference this year, and they have brought a refreshing enthusiasm and positivity to the committee even in the face of compound essay deadlines and contact hours. Their commitment to one of our department’s flagship events, despite only being here a short time, is to be commended. We are supported by the members of previous committees, who have been very generous with their time, expertise, and intellectual property, and if you attended LHPC last year then you will see some familiar faces. We are once again financially supported by the Lancaster University History Department.
If you would like to submit an abstract for this year’s LHPC, or learn more about the conference, please visit our website, and follow us on Twitter (@Lancs_HistFest)! We look forward to seeing you in June!
This year’s LHPC Histfest is being hosted at Lancaster University’s Management School on Thursday 29th – Friday 30th June 2023. More information can be found on our website: www.lhpconference.com. We are looking forward to seeing our guests and presenters and hearing all the fascinating research they have to showcase.