n celebration of cross border collaboration and friendship, the Victorian Studies Association of Western Canada and the Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western Unites States are pleased to announce a joint conference on the topic of Victorian Borders, which will take place on May 7 and 8, 2027 at the Coastal Coal Harbour Hotel in Vancouver, BC on the traditional and unceded territories of the the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Diana Maltz (Southern Oregon University) as our plenary speaker. The conference will also feature a hands-on crafting workshop led by Dr. Susan Johnston and other members of the VSAWC community, as well as panels on teaching and pedagogy organized by Dr. Ashley Nadeau.
During the Victorian period, the British Empire expanded its borders through violent conquest and settlement as well as through innovations in transportation and communication technology, changes that often worked together. Industrialization and urbanization also changed and expanded cities, breaking down previously established borders between town and country. Alongside these changes, new sciences and art forms from evolution to photography pushed the borders of culture and nature and reinforced imagined borders of race, gender, class, and nation. We encourage proposals for papers and panels that expand our ideas about borders in the Victorian period. Topics for exploration include but are not limited to:
- immigration and emigration
- empire
- war
- exploration and travel writing
- national borders
- physical borders, including urban and suburban planning, exhibitions, slums, and prisons
- life on the margins
- intellectual borders
- disciplinary borders
- sexual borders
- gender borders
- racial borders
- racial borders
- class borders
- artistic/aesthetic borders
- expanding the boundaries of pedagogical practice; rethinking assessment, revising the canon, and more
- teaching across borders, including how to address politics safely and ethically in literature, history, art history, and other Victorian Studies classrooms
- poetic borders, including line and stanza breaks
- the physical space of text on the printed page, or the borders between serial numbers or volumes
- spiritualist borderlands
- the Victorian demimonde
- borders between town and country, culture and nature, modern and primitive
- borders between art, industry, design, and craft
- decorative borders in art, architecture, gardens, book design
- borders between work and leisure
- borders in the household
- boundaries of morality, manners, and respectability
- travel and communication technologies, such as rail, the steamship, and the telegraph
We welcome proposals for papers, panels, and workshops that explore the theme of Victorian Borders. Established scholars, emerging scholars, independent scholars, and graduate students are all encouraged to apply. Please send a proposal of no more than 300 words, accompanied by a 50-75 word biographical statement, to VictorianBorders2027@gmail.com. In the case of panels or workshops, please share participants’ materials in a single email. Please submit proposals no later than 1 November 2027.
Graduate students and underemployed scholars will have the opportunity to apply for funding to reduce the cost of participation. Please direct any questions to Dr. Ryan Stephenson.
To learn more about the VISAWUS, VSAWC, and our past conferences, please visit our websites at http://www.visawus.org/ and https://vsawc.org. To learn more about VSAWC’s journal, Victorian Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Victorian Studies, please visit: https://victorianreview.org/.
Created 7 September 2026 Last modified 18 August 2026