Exciting times at Academic Archers as we can announce the speakers and papers for our fifth conference, taking place 28 February to 1 March next year, at The Museum of English Rural Life and University of Reading.
We are turning our lens to the family dynamics of Ambridge, as well as imaging it as both Springfield and an Egyptian village. This year too, with now five years of Academic Archers under our belts, we are turning the lens on ourselves, asking what Archers fandom is all about (aside from shouting at the radio as our dear Ambridgians go about their daily lives.)
All the info can be found below, and with box office open and tickets selling fast, we advise people to get in quick - and links to all the ticket types can be found below.
Academic Archers 2020, conference proceedings
Friday, 28 February to Sunday, 1 March 2020
The Academic Archers MERL Take Over, Friday 6 pm to 8.30 pm
Welcome Reception, The Museum of English Rural Life.
Join us for the opening reception of the 2020 and fifth Academic Archers conference as we take over the Museum of English Rural Life for the evening! We have planned a pop-up exhibition of all things The Archers in its collection, a tour of its galleries, and a buffet dinner (and a special guest TBC!)
Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/academicarchers/290982/
Academic Archers 2020, Saturday 9 am - 5.30 pm (Sunday, 9.30-12 – see below)
Conference, The Great Hall, University of Reading.
Weekend tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/academicarchers/293547/
Limited-number Saturday Day Tripper tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/academicarchers/293554/
Academic Archers Formal(ish) Dinner tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/academicarchers/293559/
8.30 Doors and registration
9 – 9.15 Welcome from Dr Cara Courage and Dr Nicola Headlam, and Academic Archers Assembly 1
Session One: Family - Power and Influence
9.15 - 9.45 Keynote: The 2020 network. One in, One Out, Dr Nicola Headlam
9.45 - 10 Parents, siblings, and the pursuit of power: Predicting the future leaders of Ambridge, Timothy Vercellotti, Professor of Political Science, Western New England University
10 - 10.15 ‘From the moment those two joined the committee it’s been grunge bands, sumo wrestlers and souffle competitions’ - What Ambridge’s civil society says about UK politics in 2019, Amy Sanders, PhD student, Cardiff University
Questions/discussion
10.30 - 10.45 Visionary or Vanity Project – Will the Ambridge Conservation Trust deliver a sustainable future?, Shirley Cramer, CBE CEO Royal Society of Public Health and Food, Farming and Countryside Commissioner, and Jo Bibby, Director of Health at the Health Foundation
10.45 - 11 “If you have security, Ed, that is everything”. Deconstructing ‘security’ as a buffer against life’s challenges, Lalage Cambell, retired Principal Lecturer, Reader and Head of Department of Applied Psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University
11 - 11.15 The law of the land, land law and family dynamics in The Archers, Elizabeth Campion, Master of Laws at the University of Cambridge
11.15 - 11.25 Tea Break
11.25 - 11.30 Archers Assembly 2
Session Two Family dynamics - wellbeing and mental health
Talking Cures
11.30 - 11.45 “They Needed Counselling”, Karen Pollock, psychotherapist specialising in Gender, Sexuality and Relationship diversity
11.45 - 12 The healing powers of everyday country folk: The Archers? Better than therapy!, Dr Fiona Starr, Clinical Psychologist and an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Middlesex University in London
Ageing in Ambridge
12 - 12.05 Joe’s Funeral, Abi Pattenden, Funeral Director
12.10 - 12.25 Psychological Wellbeing in Retirement: What The Archers tell us, Bronwen Williams, mental health nurse
12.25 - 12.40 Can’t Afford the Laurels? - Care Provision in Ambridge in 2041, Ruth Heilbronn and Rosalind Janssen, UCL Institute of Education
12.40 - 12.55 Why are the residents of Ambridge so financially gullible and what can we do about it??, Prof Joanna Gray, Birmingham Law School
12.55 - 2 Lunch
2 - 2.10 Archers Assembly 3
Session Three: the fandom panel
2.10 - 2.25 Fans, Flouncers, Fundamentalists: Customs and belief systems of The Archers online fanbase, Claire Astbury
2.25 - 2.40 Cult and Culture: Transformative Fandom de dum de dum de dum, Helen Burrows, retired senior lecturer and practitioner in Social Work
2.40 - 2.55 Gauging Guerrilla Academia – Exploring the impact of the ‘Academic Archers’ conference, Prof Carenza Lewis, University of Lincoln
2.55 - 3.10 When the Script Hits the Fan: When Archers fans stop listening – and why they can’t completely keep away, Dr Sarah Kate Merry, Coventry University
3.10 - 3.25 “I hate The Archers because…” - a conference intervention, Dr Jerome Turner
Panel responses and questions
3.40 - 4 Tea break
4 - 4.10 Archers Assembly 4
Session Four: Intertextual Lucky Dip
4.10 – 4.25 Rude mechanicals– Professional representations of the ‘amateur’ in The Archers Pantomime, Hamish Fffyfe
4.25 - 4.35 Baddies in wheelchairs and the Disneyfication of Disability, Dr Pauline Eyre
4.35 - 4.45 An overview of management styles in the Archers with a discussion of Douglas McGregor’s management Theory X and Theory Y to the Ambridge workforces, Lucinda Bufton
4.45 - 5 DumTeeDum singalong recording, Academic Archers 2020 Conference Award Ceremony
5 - 5.10 Conference proceedings close for the day
Walk/drive/taxi to dinner venue
6.30 Meet for pre-dinner drinks, Park House, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6UA
7 – 11 Academic Archers Formal(ish) Dinner, The Meadow Suite, Park House
ACADEMIC ARCHERS 2020, Sunday, 9.30 am -12 pm
Conference, The Great Hall, University of Reading.
9.00 Doors and tea and coffee
Session 5: Sunday Best
9.15- 9.25 Bringing Ambridge to an Ancient Egyptian Village, Rosalind Janssen, UCL Institute of Education
9.25 – 9.35 Ambridge vs. Springfield, Gary Gilday
9.35 -9.50 A divided village: a narrative study using a theoretical lens of speculative ontology, M Bartlett
10.00 - 11.15 Live Listen, Sunday The Archers Omnibus – and world record attempt at the Tweetalong (tea and coffee available – wandering about encouraged)
11.15 Conference closes