The Northeast Conference on British Studies
Welcome to the official site of the Northeast Conference on British Studies (NECBS!) We are an organization dedicated to the study of British Studies in New England, Quebec, and the Maritimes. We host an annual conference at a host university in our region that is open to graduate students, independent scholars, traditional faculty, and anyone else engaged in British Studies.
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The NECBS is a regional affiliate of the North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS). The NACBS is a scholarly society that sponsors the Journal of British Studies and is affiliated with the American Historical Association. Information on the NECBS and NACBS are regularly updated on H-Albion, an H-Net discussion group.
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Membership in the NECBS is open to everyone with a professional and/or personal interest in any aspect of British Studies. Most members of this conference live or work in the northeastern region of the United States and Canada, but its membership is not limited to this geographical area and we welcome members from all over the world. We especially welcome graduate student members, for whom we offer some financial aid to attend our annual meeting. We also award the annual David Underdown Prize for the best paper presented at the conference by a graduate student, which includes a cash prize and a citation on our website.
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NECBS Annual Meeting (2025)
Our annual meeting in 2025 will be held in Montreal, QC in conjunction with the North American Conference on British Studies. Every six years, each regional affiliate of the NACBS co-hosts the national conference with them and 2025 is our turn. Our most recent past President, Prof. Brian Lewis (McGill University) is the current vice-President of the NACBS and is scheduled to take over as President following the 2025 meeting. We look forward to celebrating with him in Montreal.
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For more information on the 2025 conference, please see the NACBS website.
NECBS Annual Meeting (2024)
Our annual meeting in 2024 took place at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut from September 27th to 29th. Our host and local coordinator was our new President, Prof. Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre. The conference featured Prof. Elizabeth Elbourne (McGill University) as a keynote speaker, as well as a plenary roundtable on the future of British Studies featuring Profs. Asheesh Kapur Siddique (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Brendan Kane (University of Connecticut), and Lucy Curzon (University of Alabama). You can find the conference program at this link.
NECBS Annual Meeting (2023)
Our annual meeting in 2023 was hosted in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 13th and 14th. Our regional host was Prof. Krista Kesselring of Dalhousie University, in partnership with a number of other universities in Halifax. The annual meeting featured two keynote addresses. The first keynote was given by Prof. Dana Rabin of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was titled “The Jewish Atlantic: Colonization, Circulation, and ‘Emancipation’ in the British Empire, 1650-1830.” The second keynote was given by Prof. Daniel Woolf of Queen’s University, and was titled “Experiences of Defeat: Loss, Exile, and Dissent as Themes in British Historiography.”
NECBS Council Members
President: Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre, Trinity College jreganle@trincoll.edu
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Vice-President: Mary Conley, College of the Holy Cross mconley@holycross.edu
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Treasurer: Michael Ortiz, University of Rhode Island michael.ortiz@uri.edu
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Secretary: Anna Suranyi, Endicott College asuranyi@endicott.edu
Communications: Craig Gallagher, Colby-Sawyer College craig.gallagher@colby-sawyer.edu
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Past President: Brian Lewis, McGill University brian.lewis@mcgill.ca