‘(Re) Imagining Value’: An Interdisciplinary Symposium
26 May 2023, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Keynote speakers: Professor Nicky Marsh (University of Southampton) and Professor Paul Crosthwaite (University of Edinburgh)

The Economic Humanities Network for the Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute (NUHRI) invites proposals for a one-day interdisciplinary symposium to be held on 26 May 2023.

The theme of the symposium investigates the role of value within the emerging field of economic humanities, which brings together researchers who identify a reciprocal relationship between the arts and social sciences. Recent scholarship within this field has interrogated the cultural metamorphosis through which economics was divested of the humanitarian concerns that were crucial to its Enlightenment origins, and became aligned with the ‘dismal’ pursuit of profit. By forging dialogues between literature, history, business studies, law, philosophy, politics and beyond, our network explores how economics shares with the humanities a view that individuals are motivated by desire, imagination and creativity, as well as considers how this perspective transforms how we understand value today. The symposium opens up discussions about what value means in an era driven by capitalism and post-pandemic recovery. We are particularly interested in the way that value measures what is ‘useful’, yet remains an enigma that evolves with the spirit of its age.

Ranging across the higher education and public sectors in their areas of specialisation, our keynote and guest speakers will address how the theme of value not only informs their work, but is also shaped by the disciplinary or critical lens through which it is studied. This methodology will provide delegates with an opportunity to reflect upon the benefits and challenges of defining value in their own research. Accordingly, we invite proposals for papers which broadly consider how value is imagined and reimagined across a range of scholarly fields and historical periods.

Possible topics could include, but are not limited to:

• Imagining value then and now: shifting linguistic or historical terms
• The public arena: visions of value in institutions and/or government
• Depictions of value in music, the visual arts, film, theatre, and performance
• The representation of value through literary forms: prose, poetry, periodical, and pamphlet
• Value in the market: finance, economics, and trade
• Demonetising value: morality, relationships, and wellbeing
• The evolution of value: scientific discovery and medical advances
• Value at the margins: gender, class, race, and sexuality
• Conserving value: museum and heritage studies
• Religious values: faith, fanaticism, and revelation
• Reading in new ways: approaching value across disciplinary lines
• Dialogues of value: collaborations with industry, education and policy makers

Abstracts of 250 words for 20-minute papers should be submitted to reimaginingvalue@gmail.com by 1 April 2023. Informal queries may be sent to the Economic Humanities Project Lead, Dr Leanne Stokoe (leanne.stokoe@ncl.ac.uk)

The symposium is generously supported by a NUHRI Pioneer Award, and will therefore be free to attend. We are delighted to be able to offer a number of travel bursaries for postgraduates and unwaged speakers. Please indicate in your abstract if you would like to be considered for a bursary.
For more information please visit the NUHRI website: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/nuhri/research/current-projects/