International Conference on the History of Freemasonry
It has recently been announced that an International Academic Conference is to be held in 2007 in Edinburgh, Scotland. One of the organisers is Robert L. D. Cooper, Curator, of the Grand Lodge of Scotland Museum and Library explained: ‘Freemasonry, especially Scottish Freemasonry, has attracted a lot of interest over the last few years and it was thought that the time was right to put the academic study of Freemasonry on an international footing.’ The range of subjects relating to Freemasonry is huge.’ He said: ‘I have no doubt that this International Conference will attract scholars from all over the world. In fact several of the most pre-eminent historians in the field have already committed their support.’
What subjects will be covered we asked? Cooper said: ‘There will be no restriction on the subject matter of papers presented at the conference as long as they are relevant to Freemasonry. The papers must be scholarly, that is, meet rigorous academic standards. I, along with many others, will be very interested to see what papers will be submitted by popular writers on subjects such as Rosslyn Chapel, the Knights Templar, the Priory de Sion, the St. Clair (Sinclair) family, hereditary Grand Masters etc. all of which are claimed to have some connection with Freemasonry.’
How will papers for presentation at the conference be selected we asked? ‘A good question’ said Cooper. ‘To maintain the highest standards, all papers will be selected by ‘blind peer review.’ What does that mean we, the Rosslyn Templars, asked? ‘Oh, yes, my apologies. In the academic world the process is this: if you have an idea for a paper you need to write about 300 words outlining the content of the paper. It must then be e-mailed to: ICHFpapers@glasconf.demon.co.uk – snail mail proposals can be accepted but need to be sent to the conference organiser – address below. The proposal, minus all material which might identify the author is removed, in order to make it anonymous. The anonymous proposal is then submitted to an academic committee which is made up of the most pre-eminent historians in the field’. The conference organiser, NorthernNetWorking has no connection with the Academic Committee other than acting a ‘Post Box’ for proposals for papers. Well, okay, we ask what do they do? Cooper explained: ‘at the closing date all the proposals for papers are considered and graded. Those which meet the appropriate standards are then short listed. All those submitting papers which are accepted or rejected will be notified accordingly.’ So what happens to the short listed proposals? Cooper explained: ‘There are only so many ‘slots’ available at the conference but we hope that all papers of an acceptable standard will be presented.’ There is some doubt in your voice on that we said, would you care to expand further? ‘Eh, yes, why not. If there are too many acceptable papers then the Academic Committee will have to judge which are to be presented and which are not.’
The conference will be held over three days (25 – 27 May 2007) and proposals for papers to be presented at the conference are now invited.
The conference now has its own dedicated web site at www.ichfonline.org