Over the past few decades there has been significant debate as to the place and shape of maritime history. In January 2008, the Council of the American Historical Association added ‘Maritime, including Naval’ to its taxonomy of academic specialties. But since then, it has been suggested that the field has been marginalised. Or does the growth of new areas of interest – such as the study of port towns, the ‘Atlantic World,’ Coastal History, and the role of gender in maritime history – suggest a flourishing, if more diverse, environment? What is the state of other research-orientated maritime activities such as public history and heritage?
The Greenwich Maritime Centre and the Society for Nautical Research are excited to announce a major conference to be held at the University of Greenwich to consider these questions. The conference will bring together contributors from within the broad field of maritime history. Participants will also include academics who write on maritime and coastal topics, but do not consider themselves maritime historians. Papers and key discussion points will be published in hard copy and/or online by the Society of Nautical Research.
Papers on maritime history research
Proposals are invited for papers on any of the following aspects, or on related and relevant themes. The principal criterion for acceptance is the extent to which a paper provides a broad overview of the current situation in a specific field, and of the prospects for the future, rather than narrow, descriptive accounts of a particular period of history or historic ship.
- The study of maritime history in the university and school sectors
- The state of maritime research in particular geographical regions and countries
- The state of particular sub-disciplines within maritime history and research, e.g. naval history, nautical archaeology, port towns, coastal studies
- The health of the maritime museums sector, and current and future challenges for it
- The state of the historic ships and craft sector
- ‘Sea blindness’: fact or fiction?
Proposals of 500 words, together with a short biography of no more than 150 words, should be submitted by 1 June 2017 on this website which includes some additional information on the call for papers. More information on the Greenwich Maritime Centre can be found here.
