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Languages, Linguistics and Film

Literature + Economics Seminar Series February 2020

27 February 2020 - 28 February 2020

Time: 3:00 - 5:00pm

Queen Mary’s ground-breaking Cultural Finance Conference attracted a full house of about 40 people at the Arts Two Senior Common Room on 28 February 2020, representing universities from around the United Kingdom as well as financial institutions. The conference was the first of its kind in the UK, featuring both literary critics and economists as speakers. The aim was to explore how the two disciplines of literary criticism and economics / finance might ‘talk to’ one another. The theme of cultural finance is a new and emerging area of economics that explores how cultural norms interact with financial decision making.

Peter Hitchcock presenting at the conference

 Jonathan Haskel presenting at the conference

Keynote speakers were Jonathan Haskel, Professor of Economics at Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London, and a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (2018-2021), and Peter Hitchcock, Professor of English at the City University of New York Graduate Center and Baruch College. Hitchcock spent a week at the Mile End campus as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow, delivering also a Masterclass and Lecture. Other conference speakers included Dr Daniel Beunza (Cass Business School, City University of London), Dr Jesal Sheth (Banking Standards Board), Dr Jonathan Paine (Rothschild & Co), Professor Peter Knight (Manchester), Dr Paul Crosthwaite (Edinburgh) and Dr Alasdair King (QMUL).

The conference was an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Comparative Literature and the School of Economics and Finance, organised by Dr Ben Holgate (CL) and Professor Jason Sturgess (SEF). The event was generously funded by Queen Mary’s Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ Early Career Workshop Funding Scheme and Distinguished Visiting Fellowships Scheme.

 

Further details of the events are here:

The Department of Comparative Literature and Culture in collaboration with the School of Economics and Finance are holding 3 exciting interdisciplinary events in late February 2020 on the theme of literature and economics.

We are delighted to welcome our Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Professor Peter Hitchcock, who is involved in each of the events. Peter is Professor of English at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Masterclass – Professor Hitchcock

"Stakeholders and Vampires: A Cultural Critique"

Thursday, 27 February 2020, 3pm

Queens Building W206, Mile End Campus

Event ticket URL: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/masterclass-literary-criticism-economics-tickets-86116664261

Lecture – Professor Hitchcock

“’The horror! The horror!’: Abject Financialization and Corporate Reality”

Thursday, 27 February 2020, 4.30pm *Date change*

Queens Building W206, Mile End Campus *Venue change*

 

Cultural Finance One-Day Conference 

Friday, 28 Feb, 10am to 5pm

Arts Two, Senior Common Room, Mile End Campus 

Cultural Finance is a new and emerging area of economics that explores how cultural norms interact with financial decision making. The conference is the first of its kind in the UK and features papers by both literary critics and economists.

Keynote Speaker, Economics: Professor Jonathan Haskel (Imperial College London)

“The Intangible Economy”

Jonathan is co-author (with Stian Westlake) of Capitalism Without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy (2018). Microsoft’s Bill Gates calls it a “brilliant new book,” and says of the rapid rise of the intangible economy: “This is one of the biggest trends in the global economy that isn’t getting enough attention.”

Keynote Speaker, Literary Criticism: Professor Peter Hitchcock (CUNY)

“How to read Fictitious (and other keywords)”

Event ticket URL: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cultural-finance-one-day-conference-tickets-86115278115

Enquiries for all three events:

Dr Ben Holgate, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Department of Comparative Literature and Culture, email: b.holgate@qmul.ac.uk

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