CONFERENCE: Emotions of Cultures/Cultures of Emotions: Comparative Perspectives

The Society for the History of Emotions (SHE) is an international and interdisciplinary professional organisation. SHE promotes a deeper understanding of the changing meanings and consequences of emotional concepts, expressions and regulation over time and space and across cultures. The Society is committed to fostering interdisciplinary international dialogue on all aspects of humanities-based emotions research.

The historical and cultural conditioning of emotions – including their expression, regulation and performance, and their gendered, ethnic, class-based and contingent nature – is a methodologically rich field. This conference encourages discussion across disciplines, cultures and historical periods, with a particular focus on broadening emotions history beyond its hitherto largely Western context. For the inaugural conference of SHE we now invite papers that address one or more of the following questions:

Emotions of Cultures – Comparative Perspectives

How can we extend the cultural and geographical scope of current emotions research? In what ways can we develop our methodologies, especially with regard to comparative studies? How can postcolonial perspectives, indigenous positions and North-South dialogues be better integrated into historical emotions research?

Cultures of Emotions – History of Emotions and Contemporary Issues

How can comparative studies in the history of emotions further our understanding of contemporary issues and problems? How can such comparative perspectives contribute to public debates about cross-cultural and cross-religious issues? What problems do we encounter when teaching the history of emotions, and how can we ensure our teaching is cross-disciplinary?