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Forthcoming events and conferences

The Eccles Centre for American Studies regularly organises and supports conferences, seminars, lectures and other events on North American and transatlantic themes, often in partnership with other institutions and organisations.

Some Thoughts on the Diplomacy of a Great Democracy by an Outside Observer

When Monday 21 May 2012, 18.30 - 20.00
Where Conference Centre, British Library
Price £7.50 / £5 concessions
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Distinguished diplomat Lord Hannay of Chiswick, former Minister at the British Embassy in Washington and former British Ambassador to the United Nations, will deliver the Second Annual Benjamin Franklin House Robert H Smith Lecture in American Democracy. The lecture honours American business leader and philanthropist Robert H Smith, a key supporter of Benjamin Franklin House, who was passionate about the roots and reach of American democracy.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Eccles Centre for American Studies

Coming to Quebec: 350 Years of British Travel and Travellers

When Tuesday 22 May 2012, 18.30 - 19.45
Where Conference Centre, British Library
Price £7.50 / £5 concessions
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Quebec has welcomed British travellers for more than 350 years. They have toured cities and villages, explored the hinterland, fished its lakes and navigated the waterways that crisscross this province that is seven times the size of the UK. When they returned to Britain, successive generations of travellers published accounts that were important to the promotion and development of Quebec. Others chronicled their visits in engravings that contributed to the iconography of this vast territory that to some was a bucolic paradise of field and stream and to others a remote land of snow and ice. In a whirlwind presentation of compelling images, historian Alexander Reford will present the story of the discovery of Quebec and end up his tour with his own efforts to entice British travellers to his gardens and garden festival in Metis.

Alexander Reford is the director of Les Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens and the founder of the International Garden Festival. Educated at Oxford University, he is the author of several books on gardens and the history of Quebec.

This event is supported by the Quebec Government Office and the Eccles Centre for American Studies

Conference: The World of Jorge Amado

When Friday 8 June 2012, 09.30 - 17.00
Where Conference Centre, British Library
Price Free, but booking is essential
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A day of literary and cultural reflections marking the 100th Anniversary of Jorge Amado's birth. The conference is one of many events being held across the globe in honour of Jorge Amado.

An international group of scholars, writers and artists will explore the inter-relationship among race, national identity and literature in Brazil as a way of marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado. Speakers include: Roberto DaMatta (author of Carnivals, Rogues and Heroes: An Interpretation of the Brazilian Dilemma), Kenneth Maxwell (author of Naked Tropics: essays on empire and other rogues), Ana Maria Machado (President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters), and Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro. The conference will close with an evening keynote lecture to be followed by a wine reception accompanied by Brazilian music.

Full programme

This event is supported by the Brazilian Academy of Letters, the Embassy of Brazil, the Institute for the Study of the Americas, and Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library. This one-day conference is free but booking is essential. Evening lecture to be followed by a wine reception, which must be booked separately.

American Presidential Elections: Model of Democracy or Flawed System?

When Monday 11 June 2012, 09.30 - 17.00
Where Conference Centre, British Library
Price £10 (no concessions)
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This day-long event brings together top-flight political consultants, scholars and others who follow American presidential elections to discuss the dynamics and eccentricities of the current presidential elections, and the impact of US electoral politics and campaigning styles around the world. On the agenda will be: SuperPACs and their role; are the national political parties becoming obsolete; is the campaign cycle too long; should the US electoral system be reformed; what lessons should other countries take from US election campaigns; has the media revolution made campaigns borderless? Keynote speaker is Baroness Williams of Crosby. Other speakers will include leading US consultants Celinda Lake, Ed Goeas and Tom Edmonds.

Programme (PDF format) 64KB
Leaflet (PDF format) 2758KB

This meeting is hosted by the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library, in co-operation with the International Association of Political Consultants and the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London. The support of the US Embassy in London is gratefully acknowledged.

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