Events

Upcoming Conferences and Events

Ann Radcliffe and Women's Gothic Writing

A free public lecture by Dr. Deborah Russell (University of York). 16th May 2025, 6pm-8pm, Mappin Hall, Sir Frederick Mappin Building, Mappin St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 3JD. Reserve tickets here.

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Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) was “the great enchantress” of her generation, in the words of Thomas de Quincey. She changed the face of fiction in the Romantic period and shaped the development of Gothic romance. The extraordinary impact of her work also helped to cement an association between this genre and women writers and readers. But, of course, Radcliffe was far from the only woman writing Gothic fiction in the formative early days of the genre. This lecture will explore Radcliffe’s career in the context of the other women who inspired her, imitated her, and contested her vision of the Gothic.

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Generously funded by the AHRC as part of the ongoing Ann Radcliffe, Then and Now project based at the University of Sheffield. Followed by a drinks reception.

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Dr Deborah Russell is a Senior Lecturer in Eighteenth-Century Literature at the University of York. Deborah’s research interests focus on Gothic fiction, with a particular emphasis on women's writing and discourses of national identity. She also works on Romantic-era theatre, thinking about silence on stage, spectacle, and the politics of adaptation.

PICNIC @ 50

The Sheffield Centre for Research in Film (SCRIF)

Annual Symposium 20th June 2025, 9am-5pm (UK GMT)

The University of Sheffield/Hybrid Event

This event marks fifty years since the release of a landmark film of the Australian film revival, Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). Brian McFarlane commented on Picnic’s ‘euphoric over-valuation’ at the time of its release, but Weir’s film became a flagship production of the ‘New Wave’. It cemented Weir’s position within the cinema revival, established the ‘AFC genre’ of respectable literary adaptations, but also contributed to the vein of horror film and ‘Gothic’ cinema which has distinguished Australian film production ever since.

Our guest speaker for this event will be Dr Stephen Morgan (King’s College, London).

For more details about the event please email Jonathan Rayner (j.r.rayner@shef.ac.uk).

Event and conference archive

Read about our previous events including: our Summer School, Gothic Futures: A Sheffield Summer Institute; Sheffield Gothic's "Consuming the Gothic" conference (November 2023); the 30th anniversay "Candyman and the Whole Damn Swarm" conference (October 2022); and the online "Cults, Cthulus, and Klansmen: The (Hi)stories within Lovecraft Country" symposium (May 2021).

Code of conduct

The Centre for the History of the Gothic is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. 

We believe our online spaces and our physical spaces should be safe and free from harassment, bullying or hate. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants or attendees of our events in any form. 

All attendees, speakers, hosts and volunteers at our events are required to agree with the following code of conduct. There will be a zero tolerance policy for any form of harassment or abuse throughout our conference and events. Conference participants and attendees violating these rules may be sanctioned or removed from the conference or events at the discretion of the organisers. 

Harassment includes but is not limited to:

• Offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion.

• Sexual images in public spaces.

• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording.

• Sustained disruption of talks or other events.

• Inappropriate physical contact.

• Unwelcome sexual attention or racial harassment, including any language that might be construed as antagonistic or inflammatory.

• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour.

Enforcement

Participants who display any harassing behaviour will be asked to leave the event immediately, or will be removed from the event by the event organisers.

We expect participants and speakers, as well as event organisers, chairs, and volunteers to follow this code throughout the event. This includes in particular not using sexualised images, activities, or other material (unless this is a relevant and appropriate part of your presentation), and not using sexualised clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise creating a sexualised environment.

Reporting

If you witness or experience harassment, please report it as soon as possible to the organisers so that steps can be taken to remove individuals. Each conference and event will clearly state who the organisers are and how to contact them, so please refer to event materials for this information specific to each event. [Attendees and participants will be able to find details of the organisers and how to contact them in the conference pack for the symposium].

Hate crimes should be reported to the University of Sheffield’s Security Services, and you can find more details about the University’s policy and definition of harassment, bullying, and hate crimes on their website.

Harassment and other code of conduct violations reduce the value of our event for everyone. We want you to be happy and safe at our events.