The 2026 Seeley Lectures will be delivered by Professor Caroline Humfress (University of St Andrews). The lecture series, ‘Constitutional Imaginaries, Ancient and Modern’, will consist of: Lecture 1: Tuesday, May 19: ‘Lesser Commonwealths’? Politics and the Associative Phenomenon. Lecture 2: Thursday, May 21: Ancient Constitutionalism and Private Associations. Lecture 3: Tuesday, May 26: Constitutional Imaginaries: (Late) Ancient vs. (Early) Modern. Lecture 4: Thursday May 28: From Social Contract(ing) to Societal Constitutionalism? All Lectures will start at 5pm in the McCrum Lecture Theatre, Bene’t Street, Cambridge.

📢 Join us for 2026 Seeley Lectures from Prof Caroline Humfress (Uni. of St Andrews)

“Constitutional Imaginaries, Ancient and Modern”

📅 19, 21, 26, 28 May
⏲️ All 4 lectures start @ 5pm
🏢 McCrum Lecture Theatre, Cambridge
🔎 Free, no booking needed

Please share🙏 @thecambridgeschool.bsky.social

Cover of book 'Race, Culture, and Politics in German Historical Thought, 1785–1815' by Morgan Golf-French

My book is Online! 🥳🥳🥳

Race, Culture, and Politics in German Historical Thought, 1785–1815 represents the culmination of ten years' work.

In it, I try to peel back our assumptions about how historiography worked in the German Enlightenment, situating it between the...

academic.oup.com/book/62547

2026 Annual George Rousseau Lecture: "Poland was but a breakfast": or, why 1772 helps us to understand 1776 David Armitage (Harvard University)

What linked the first partition of Poland and American independence? David Armitage (@davidrarmitage.bsky.social) explores the question in the George Rousseau Lecture, 13 May, 5pm @magdalenoxford.bsky.social: www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/2026-a...

CfP German History Society annual conference 2026. Early modern proposals especially welcome: www.germanhistorysociety.org/conference/

Can the common people be enlightened? How should cultural elites and political leaders embark on the task? A new article on the 18thC debate, re-assessing Gadamer's claim that the Enlightenment harboured a “prejudice against all prejudices.”
doi.org/10.1017/S147...

Open Access @universitypress.cambridge.org!

For this piece with @voltaire.ox.ac.uk, we argue that French writers' use of names, including in abolitionist lit, mirrored the logic of slavery itself: authors liberally detached these names from the cultures in which they had originated, and turned them into markers for an undifferentiated "Other"

Merci mille fois!

Open Access @universitypress.cambridge.org!

DEADLINE EXTENDED to the 31 March 2026!
Join our PGRs and ECRs in Montpellier this autumn to discuss the theme of 'Improvement, Degeneration, Stagnation'
#skystorians #18thC 🗃️ #PGR #ECR #CFP

ISECS Conference / Colloque de la SIEDS

*Updated / Mis à jour*

Reframing the Enlightenment. Intellectual and political disputes today / Le défi des Lumières. Enjeux intellectuels et politiques

Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris
10–12 June / juin 2026

oraprdnt.uqtr.uquebec.ca/portail/gscw...

Can the common people be enlightened? How should cultural elites and political leaders embark on the task? A new article on the 18thC debate, re-assessing Gadamer's claim that the Enlightenment harboured a “prejudice against all prejudices.”
doi.org/10.1017/S147...

The Un-Naming of ‘Zamore’ and ‘Mirza’ A ‘name is an infinite source of control’ (George Lamming, ‘The Negro Writer and his World’, 1956). While personal to each human being, it also becomes a social designation of one’s identity. It is…

How 'Mirza' and 'Zamor(e)' became generic names for colonised persons in French literature of the 18thC: a fascinating blog post by Caroline Gleason-Mercier and Samuel Harrison (Turin Humanities Programme) voltairefoundation.wordpress.com/2026/03/20/t...

Promotional graphic for the book Jacques-Louis David’s Drawings: Bodies in Action' by Tamar Mayer. The background features a black-and-white painting of David’s 'Leonidas at Thermopylae'- featuring nude Spartan soldiers, which has been taken from the book's cover. A blue banner across the center reads, 'Examines the archetypical and best-known neoclassical painter in France from a different perspective.' On the right, a smaller image of the book cover appears with the title and author. Logos for Liverpool University Press, Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment, and the Voltaire Foundation appear along the bottom.

New to the series | 'Jacques-Louis David's drawings' by Tamar Mayer. Find out more, and purchase directly for 20% off RRP: bit.ly/Mayer-OSE #c18 #academicsky📖
@voltaire.ox.ac.uk

Jürgen Habermas ist heute im Alter von 96 Jahren in Starnberg verstorben.

Portrait de Jacques Revel

Les @annales.ehess.fr ont l'immense tristesse d'apprendre le décès de Jacques Revel. La revue doit tant à son intelligence et à sa générosité. Secrétaire de rédaction de la revue de 1975 à 1980, il observait et analysait avec une acuité extraordinaire les évolutions de l'historiographie. 1/2

Looking forward to David d'Avray's public lecture next week. All welcome!

17:00, Wed 4th Mar
Room 00.063 Schwarzman Centre

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception.

Details and registration: www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/church...

Indeed. We are all in denial - the art collection too!

Tutorial Fellowship in History, and Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Medieval British and European History at University of Oxford Recruiting now: Tutorial Fellowship in History, and Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Medieval British and European History on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job o...

Early medievalists! Come join us at Magdalen College, Oxford: apply for this permanent job by 27 March. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQP650/t...

📢 APPLY NOW!: DPIR seeks to appoint two full-time fixed-term Departmental Lecturers in International Relations - one with expertise in international political economy and one in historical and interpretive approaches and methods.

🗓️ CLOSES: Noon, 18 March 2026: www.politics.ox.ac.u...

Promotional image for ‘The Life of Philippe Fermin: Nature, Medicine and Law in Suriname and the Netherlands’ by Peter J. Koehler. The background features black-and-white historical illustrations taken from the book’s cover. On the right, the book cover appears. Across the center, a blue strip displays the text: “An exploration of the Enlightenment period through study of biographical material by surgeon Philippe Fermin.” Along the bottom are logos for University of Liverpool, the Voltaire Foundation, and the series logo for “Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment.”

New to the series | 'The life of Philippe Fermin: Nature, medicine and law in Suriname and the Netherlands' by Peter J Koehler. Find out more, and purchase directly for 20% off RRP: bit.ly/PhilippeFermin #c18 #academicsky📖
@voltaire.ox.ac.uk

Another one for the calendar! 📅

📅 4 March
⏰ 5:30pm (GMT)
📍Pushkin House/Zoom

Join us for a lecture in cooperation with the Modern History Research Seminar, University of Oxford (@oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social) given by Tatjana Tönsmeyer (@uni-wuppertal.bsky.social).
1/6

Enlightenment Workshop ONLINE: Museums in Revolutionary France as Sites of Encouragement and Emulation 18 Feb. Hangyul Kim (Chonnam National University) 11:00am: Museums in Revolutionary France as Sites of Encouragement and Emulation (annual online session with the Global Intellectual History Unit…

This Wednesday: our annual online session with the Global Intellectual History Unit, Sungkyunkwan University (Seoul)!

Hangyul Kim (Chonnam National University) speaks on 'Museums in revolutionary France as sites of encouragement and emulation’.

The join link:

www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk/event/enligh...

What Did “Terror is the Order of the Day” Mean in the French Revolution? By Suzanne Levin In recent years, debates about the “Terror” in the French Revolution have been enriched with several new perspectives. Despite this, the many works attempting to seek the “origins”…

What did “Terror is the order of the day” mean during the French Revolution?

A new AoR piece breaks down the political pressures, popular demands, & revolutionary logic behind this infamous 1793 declaration—and why it mattered far beyond the guillotine.

👉 ageofrevolutions.com/2026/02/09/w...

Book here your free tickets for David Armitage's lecture on Poland's partition and US independence (13 May): www.ticketsource.co.uk/magdalen-col...

2026 Annual George Rousseau Lecture: "Poland was but a breakfast": or, why 1772 helps us to understand 1776 David Armitage (Harvard University)

What linked the first partition of Poland and American independence? David Armitage (@davidrarmitage.bsky.social) explores the question in the George Rousseau Lecture, 13 May, 5pm @magdalenoxford.bsky.social: www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/2026-a...

Félicitations, chère Gillian!

Tomorrow!

🚨 Applications are now open for the 2026–27 Koch History Centre Fellowships at Oxford!

We are seeking 12 historians (9 junior, 3 senior) for a one-year fellowship at Wadham College & the Faculty of History.

This year’s theme: “Scarcity and Abundance”

Deadline: 17 Dec 2025

Please share widely!