We look forward to welcoming the American Studies community to Hatfield between 23rd and 25th April 2025 for the 70th Anniversary BAAS conference.
Alongside our usual practice of accepting work in any area of American Studies we also aim to have two key strands within the conference:
- ‘1955’: We will be thinking about 1955 as a flashpoint year. We welcome proposals about key 1955 events/culture (e.g., the opening of Disneyland; the Montgomery Bus Boycott; Emmett Till’s murder; On the Waterfront at the Oscars) and their aftermath/longue durée.
- ‘American Studies Today’: We want to think about the history, shape, and development of American Studies (especially in the UK), as well as the discipline’s present and future in an era of higher education crisis.
You can now book to register for the conference here.
Please note that the cut-off for ‘Early-Bird Registration’ is 17 March.
Conference programme TBC soon
Important information
Please fill out this MS form if you are presenting and interested in one of the bursaries.
Please fill out this MS form for other conference activities, such as the dinner and social events.
Find out more information about the Green BAAS ‘Moving Conversations’, or by getting in touch with Dr Elsa Devienne (elsa.devienne@baas.ac.uk).
In line with BAAS’ sustainability agenda, the conference catering will be meat-free.
The conference programme will be made available online. There’ll be QR codes around the building, posters on each room, and a few hard copies in the registration area should you want to consult one of course.
Instead of plastic lanyards or badges, we’ll be using low-tech sticky badges as nametags. However, if you have a work lanyard that you’d prefer to bring with your name on it please do. We want to make sure we are not creating more waste than we need to at the conference.
Accommodation
There are a few options for accommodation in Hatfield. Near to campus are a Travelodge and a Premier Inn. There is also the Comet Hotel opposite one of our campuses but will be a little more expensive than the chain hotels. There are also hotels in St Albans (about 20 mins away by bus), and of course London is accessible by train (in around 25 mins).
If you would like to book campus accommodation, you can pay for a room on De Havilland campus by emailing beds@herts.ac.uk and including information about your stay, including attendance at the BAAS conference. Please feel free to contact Dr Chris Lloyd (chris.lloyd@baas.ac.uk or c.lloyd@herts.ac.uk) if you have any difficulties. Rooms are £65 plus VAT – single, ensuite, with a small fridge.
Information on how to get to the University can be found here. The conference will be taking place on College Lane campus, though if you stay in university accommodation they will be on De Havilland campus. There is a short walk between campuses, or a shuttle bus.
For food, most restaurants are near De Havilland campus – including at the Comet Hotel – and in the Galleria shopping centre.