'Green Britain’ aims to investigate the concept of Nationhood as defined by the dynamic that exists between people, place, and space during a period of burgeoning ecological consciousness (1500-1750).
Beyond vague collocations of Merry England’s ‘green and pleasant lands’, ‘Green Britain’ aims to explore the complex relationship between national identity and the environment in a period of tumultuous ecological change. What conclusions can we derive from the study of early modern environmental issues, and how can we apply these to the complex idea of the early modern identity? To what extent is nationhood defined by the dynamic that exists between people, space, and place? And furthermore, is it possible to define an early modern attitude toward green issues? To this end, we invite proposals for both panels and papers based on the themes of nationhood and/or early modern ‘green’ issues for our one-day interdisciplinary symposium on 25th June, 2016. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Travel writing
Emerging scientific discourses
Climate theory
Pollution
Space and place
Cartography and map-making
Seascapes and maritime history
Town and country
Cultivation and Agriculture
Geography and Meteorology
Astrology and Cosmology
Enclosure and land ownership
Colonialism and Empire
Providence and providential disaster
Natural philosophy
Ecological issues
Diseases and cures
Vegetarianism
Animals and animal rights

Please email abstracts of no more than 250 words for papers of 15-20 minutes in length to Tayler and Elizabeth at: greenbritain2016@gmail.com