University of Glasgow, Scotland
The seventeenth biennial meeting of the Society took place from 3-7 August at the University of Glasgow, on the theme of “The Daily Life of the Anglo-Saxons.” Featured were two keynote lectures, forty-two regular papers, and six project reports. 194 persons registered for the conference.
Keynote lectures were given by Thomas Clancy (on “Anglo-Saxon Ayrshire?”) and Jane Roberts (on “Loss, Replacement and Some Old English Words that Died Out”). Papers were given by Anya Adair, Debby Banham, Martha Bayless, Julia Bolotina, Lindy Brady, Megan Cavell, Paul Cavill, Edward Christie, Amy Clark, Elizabeth Coatsworth, Colleen Curran, Fiona Edmonds, Martin Findell, Robert Gallagher, Bruce Gilchrist, James Graham-Campbell, Joseph Grossi, Antonina Harbus, Alice Hicklin, Mary Kate Hurley, Daria Izdebska, David Johnson, Karen Jolly, Christian Kay and Carole Hough, Olga Khallieva Boiché, Ursula Lenker, Alexandra Lester-Makin, Leslie Lockett, Inge Milfull, Christopher Monk, Katherine O’Brien O’Keeffe, Gale Owen-Crocker, Kristopher Poole, Andrew Rabin, Christine Rauer, Annina Seiler, Clare Stancliffe, Rebecca Stephenson, Christine Voth, Greg Waite, Kelley Wickham-Crowley, and Jordan Zweck. Project reports were given by Carole Biggam, Kerstin Kazzazi, Lilla Kopár, Christina Lee, Rory Naismith, and Olga Timofeeva and Alpo Honkapohja.
The conference was preceded by a two-day workshop on the theme of ‘Tools of the Trade’, directed by Daria Izdebska, with sessions by Marc Alexander, James Elmslie, John Hines and Daria Izdebska. 15 students from 13 different institutions participated in the workshop. The conference began with a welcome reception and coin exhibition at the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow. Two full days of sessions ended with a civic reception at the Glasgow City Chambers. Mid-conference excursions were either to Ruthwell and Whithorn or to Coldingham for a place-name walk. A third full day of sessions ended with a reception and manuscript exhibition at the Glasgow University Library Special Collections. The final full day of sessions concluded with a General Membership Meeting presided over by Carole Hough. Here the winners of the biennial ISAS publication prizes were announced. The conference concluded with a dinner at the Glasgow University Union.
A group of delegates then took part in a three-day post-conference excursion to Oban and Iona.
The Advisory Board and the officers of ISAS met during the week to consider the Society’s business in sessions presided over by Executive Director Martin Foys. Karen Jolly was welcomed as incoming President, succeeding Carole Hough at the end of the calendar year. Tim Graham was welcomed as incoming First Vice-President. The election of Damian Fleming, Johanna Kramer, Carol Neuman de Vegvar, Andrew Rabin and Francesca Tinti to the Advisory Board was announced. Honorary memberships were awarded to Mary Clayton, Toni Healey and Gale Owen-Crocker. Carole Hough was thanked for organizing a very successful conference. The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, was chosen as the host for the 2019 conference. A set of accepted abstracts is for the time available on the University of Glasgow website. Also posted on the web is a gallery of photos taken during the conference and at conference-related activities, including the workshop and the excursions.