Trio of research centres mark new era for Humanities at Dundee

Published On Tue 18 Mar 2014 by Grant Hill

Three new research centres will be launched this week as part of an exciting new era for the Humanities at University of Dundee.

The University’s School of Humanities has established the Scottish Centre for Global History, Scottish Centre for Continental Philosophy and Centre for Scottish Culture following a re-focusing of staff recruitment to concentrate on areas of strength within Humanities research at Dundee. Colleagues from across the UK, Europe and the United States will join staff from the University for a series of workshops to mark the triple launch on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd March

Jim Livesey, Professor of Global History and Associate Dean for Research & Scholarship, said the ‘Transforming Humanities’ programme marked the beginning of an exciting new era for the arts at the University.

“The establishment of these three new centres is part of our wider approach to broadening the expertise of Humanities research as well as building on existing strengths across a range of subjects, in this instance English, History and Philosophy,” he said.

“This dovetails with Dundee’s Transformation vision to become Scotland’s leading university and we are very excited to be launching these innovative centres with seminars featuring some of the world’s top emerging researchers.”

Jointly funded by the British Academy, ‘Communication and Knowledge 1620-1800’ takes place at Rivers Rooms, Tower Building, to launch the Scottish Centre for Global History on Friday and Saturday.

Global History is an exciting new development in the humanities and social sciences, and the University is establishing a much sharper understanding of the interdependence of peoples, cultures and states in the development of politics, culture and economies. Communication lies at the heart of global history and the workshop will see an international team of scholars confront some of the most interesting puzzles in the history of global communication.

The Scottish Centre for Continental Philosophy (SCCP) will be inaugurated with an international workshop at the Dalhousie Building on Friday when renowned philosophers will discuss and debate such diverse subjects as life, technology, and religion.

A one-day symposium in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Sir Walter Scott's debut novel ‘Waverley’ takes place on Saturday. Prominent speakers in a range of disciplines will help to mark the creation of the Centre for Scottish Culture at the event, which takes place at the Baxter Suite.

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