The Atlantic has, since the 1990s, become established as the principal site of cross-cultural encounter between Europe, Africa, and America. However, while recent research into multiple different ‘Atlantics’ tests the boundaries of established national and disciplinary research frames, studies of the many separate ‘Atlantics’ do not easily communicate with one another. Starting from the question of whether we can – or should – talk about an ‘Iberian Atlantic’, Rethinking the Iberian Atlantic is the first in a series of events hosted by the University of Liverpool’s Schools of History and Modern Languages that aim to explore the common ground shared by different and diverse approaches to the historical and cultural study of Iberian interventions in the Atlantic, from the 16th to the 21st century.

We especially invite proposals that address (but are not limited to) the following issues:
- How might an Iberian Atlantic be located within the widening framework of Atlantic Studies, and what might it mean to scholars from different disciplines and traditions working on Iberian Studies in the widest sense?
- How might research into specific Iberian experiences of the Atlantic – whether cultural, historical, political, social or economic – contribute to, confirm, or challenge the hegemonic narratives of Atlantic Studies, from which the Iberian perspective is so often absent?
- How might our understanding of an ‘Iberian’ Atlantic be nuanced by the existence of Basque, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish Atlantics, and the parallels – or conflicts – between them?
- What new understandings arise from looking beyond the traditional Europe-America-Europe axis to axes centered on the extreme north (Canada, Scandinavia, Ireland...), south (Guinea, Cabo Verde, Angola...) or mid-Atlantic islands?

Keynote speakers include: Catherine Davies (Nottingham), John Fisher (University of Liverpool), Eliga Gould (University of New Hampshire), Diogo Ramada Curto (IUE).

Proposals for papers should include a title, an abstract of about 300 words, and your full contact details (including an e-mail). We warmly encourage postgraduate submissions, and a limited amount of financial aid may be available for student participants. Please send proposals, by 15 October 2005, to either of the following:

Dr Harald Braun
School of History
University of Liverpool
Liverpool
L69 7WZ
h.e.braun@liv.ac.uk

Dr Kirsty Hooper
School of Modern Languages
University of Liverpool
Liverpool
L69 7ZR
kirsty.hooper@liv.ac.uk