BU Research Blog

11-12 November 2019
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

The British Academy and the Australian Academy of the Humanities are inviting applications for early career researchers in the humanities and social sciences from the UK, Australia and the Pacific region to attend a research collaboration forum on the broad theme of ‘the future’. The forum aims to incentivise and establish international engagement and collaboration between early career researchers from a broad range of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences, encouraging the exchange of ideas across both disciplinary and national boundaries.

Purpose and Focus
At a time of unprecedented social, cultural, environmental and technological change, the perspectives of humanities and social science researchers in understanding the role of cultural forces (histories, identities, ethics, narratives, values) in imagining and living the future are needed as never before.  The urgent need for these perspectives is increasingly being recognised as many of the greatest challenges facing humanity will not be technological, but rather social and cultural.
The ‘future’ is also shaping the approach and methodology of humanities and social science disciplines with the emergence of big data, large-scale humanities infrastructures, immersive technologies and digital heritage. Shifting disciplinary boundaries, the proliferation of diverse communities of knowledge, practice and thought suggest the need for inquiry into the nature of knowledge and evidence, and their formative requirements and professional moorings today and in the future. This requires an interdisciplinary and international outlook, as well as of effective co-design and co-production of knowledge between the expert and the lay or the theoretical and the applied. The forum invites participants to think of ‘the future’ across different times and contexts to explore and address the need for creative interventions in social and environmental crises, how communities of the past have managed (or otherwise) rapid social upheaval and technological change, and whether we can humanise the digital future.

The Forum
The forum will take place in Brisbane from 11-12 November 2019. It is designed to coincide with the 50^th Annual Symposium of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the theme of which is ‘Humanising the Future’. Travel, accommodation and subsistence costs will be met for all participants over the course of the forum.

Application Process
Applicants should provide:

• A CV which should not exceed two pages;
• A one-page summary of their initial thoughts on the theme of ‘the future’.
• A one-page justification of why they are interested in the theme of ‘the future’ based on their research and / or teaching areas; what disciplinary and interdisciplinary skills and / or experience they would contribute to the forum; and how the forum could help to develop their own research and career.

Please contact your Funding Development Officer in Research and Development Support (RDS) who will be able to assist you with your application.

Applications should be sent to international@thebritishacademy.ac.uk no later than 5pm GMT on Wednesday 10 April 2019.