Welcome

The Research Group in European Urban Culture is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The aims of the group are to promote the study of European cities as key sites in the emergence of distinctive forms of experience in the modern period, and to contribute to the development of the field of cultural history as an interdisciplinary area of research. We have established links with many colleagues in Europe and the USA and are always interested in extending our network of contacts and collaborators.

The research group was founded in 1991 by Alex Cowan, Malcolm Gee, Tim Kirk and Jill Steward, of the Department of Historical and Critical Studies at Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic (subsequently Northumbria University).

Between 1994 and 1997 the group organised three seminar series bringing together contributors from the Department of Historical and Critical Studies and outside. Taking the city as a suitable framework, the aim of these was to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas across disciplinary borders. The group has organised to date three international conferences in Newcastle, two joint colloquia with colleagues at the University of Nice and one with colleagues in Prague. The group also organised a major strand at the conference of the European Association of Urban Historians, held in Venice in 1998. All of these events have led to publications.