The Jacobite Studies Trust Triennial International Conference will be hosted in May 2027 by the Research Institute Irish and Scottish Studies. The call for papers is now out.
The Jacobite Studies Trust (JST) is pleased to announce a conference with the theme of ‘Jacobitism on the Homefront and Abroad’ to be held in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 21-22 May 2027. The conference will be co-hosted by the University of Aberdeen’s Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies (RIISS).
The dramatic, sweeping struggles of the Jacobite era are usually measured by the volatile fortunes of the Stuarts, the schemes of their high-level operatives, and the ideological commitments of their elite adherents. Yet the effects and consequences of the long Jacobite Challenge also trickled down to communities and individuals on the ground in Britain and Europe and impacted them significantly. The theme of this conference centres the historical focus of Jacobitism on how it manifested in and around various home fronts, as well as the experiences of ordinary people and the body politic in myriad contexts both domestic and transnational. These include civic societies in the urban and rural spheres, congregations and lay communities, familial units and kinship networks, plebeian martial and material cultures, occupational and economic sectors, cultural memory, and many others. The JST invites papers and panel proposals exploring the broad or narrow impacts of Jacobitism and anti-Jacobitism in Britain, Europe, and beyond, from the Revolution of 1688 to the end of the eighteenth century. Though a focus on how individuals and communities shaped events and were impacted by them is particularly encouraged, all topics connected to Jacobitism will also be considered.
In order to provide additional professional support, the conference will be organising a mentorship network with activities to connect interested postgraduate students and early career researchers with established scholars. The JST will also be offering limited financial assistance to aid PGR and ECR attendance.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 31 October 2026. Paper proposals should include a title and a 200-word abstract plus a brief CV (maximum one page). Each paper will be allotted twenty minutes of time, followed at the end of each session by questions from the audience. Paper proposals should be emailed as attached .doc, .pages, or .pdf files to the JST Chair, Dr Darren S. Layne (darren@jdb1745.net), for review by our conference panel. Further information on the programme, conference events, and local accommodation will be circulated as soon as the panels are finalised.
The history of early modern Aberdeenshire is steeped in a pronounced and sustained tradition of Jacobite and non-juring sentiment through the late Stuart era, and has been described as both a ‘nursery’ and a ‘citadel’ of Jacobitism by historical contemporaries and modern scholars. Together with its neighbouring north-eastern counties, Aberdeenshire harboured a widespread distribution of disaffected communities in the eighteenth century and produced the largest regional body of martial support during the last rising.