UCLA hosts unique conference

In the middle of summer session, a new wave of students have
converged on campus this week to take part in what is likely the
largest history class UCLA will see this year.

More than 1,000 scholars from throughout the world have traveled
to Westwood in a rare conference of the International Society for
Eighteenth Century Studies, hosted by the university’s Center
for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies.

The meeting marks just the second time the society, established
in 1963, has met in the United States. It met at Yale University in
1975, and at European venues all other times. Meetings occur once
every four years.

The event isn’t so much a class as it is a series of
workshops designed to address countless ““ and often obscure
““ aspects of the 18th century, which spawned the
Enlightenment era in history. More than 340 workshops have been
planned, said Peter Reill, director of the studies center and
conference participant.

“Some are pretty heavy duty, and others will highlight new
research,” he said.

Organizers of the conference expect roughly 1,400 papers to be
presented among the workshops.

The society comes to UCLA as the result of efforts by Reill and
John Sandbrook, assistant dean in the College of Letters &
Science, to bid for hosting rights.

Sandbrook noted that the century of interest has some local
significance, as California and Los Angeles were both administered
during this period.

Reill said the 18th century had important and broad
ramifications on western civilization, during which both the U.S.
and French revolutions occurred. He added that the conference will
address two major themes of the 18th century: the Enlightenment in
a global context and how the 18th century has been interpreted by
filmmakers.

Going along the lines of the film theme, the conference will
include a public screening of Alexandre Volkoff’s 1927 film
“Casanova,” revolving around the famed lover’s
travails through Europe in the 18th century. The film will have the
unique aspect of being scored by a live 15-member orchestra in
Royce Hall.

Conference organizers had other intentions for the week-long
event besides those of academia ““ Sandbrook said the
international scholars unfamiliar with Los Angeles will also be
treated to a taste of the city.

Some of the side trips planned include tours of the Getty
Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hollywood Bowl
and even a trek to Dodger Stadium to watch the Chicago Cubs come to
town. Many of the conference attendees have never seen a baseball
game live, Reill said.

Sandbrook and Reill also hope to showcase the university’s
libraries, in particular the off-campus Clark Library, which houses
one of the largest collections of 18th-century studies materials in
the world.

The International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies was
founded 40 years ago and about a quarter of its 9,000-person
membership hails from the United States.

For more information on the conference and on the film
screening, visit www.isecs.ucla.edu.