Recent & Forthcoming
2026-27: UKRI World Class Labs Infrastructure contract: the Economic Impact of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Report launching Spring 2027
17-20 June 2027: ‘Robert Burns along the New Silk Road’, Keynote, 5th World Congress of Scottish Literatures, Nanjing
5-7 May 2027: ‘Jacobite Officers and Diplomats: Stuart agency in the Catholic powers, 1719-63’, Royal Scots College, Salamanca (Scots Catholic Historical Association)
30 March-2 April: ‘From Culloden to Canada’, McKenzie Lecturer in Scottish History, Guelph
21 November 2026: Speaking on the Scottish Renaissance as Cultural and National Movement, in ‘A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle: Hugh MacDiarmid and a Hundred Years of the Scottish Renaissance’, Strathclyde Suite, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Book here: https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/a-drunk-man-looks-at-the-thistle-hugh-macdiarmid-and-a-hundred-years-of-the-scottish-renaissance
19 November 2026: Speaking at https://www.standrewsbookfestival.org London on http://oldstreetpublishing.co.uk/122/the-shortest-history-of-scotland-HB
15 October 2026: ‘Aberdeen and the Enlightenment, Forty Years On’ and ‘John Alexander and the Jacobite Gorgon’, both at 40th Anniversary, Aberdeen and the Enlightenment Conference, University of Aberdeen.
26 September 2026: ‘Thomas Paine and Common Sense’ , Open Day lecture for Freedom 250, US Consulate General, Edinburgh
3 July 2026: Hon D. Litt. to be awarded, Robert Gordon University
June 2026: ‘Internal Colonialism: A Fiftieth Birthday Retrospect’, Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies: Hechter Roundtable issue 13:1 X (2026),pp. 26-31. https://jiss.aberdeenunipress.org/article/438/galley/414/download/
6 June 2026: ‘Scottish and European universities: what we are doing now, and need to do’, Guest Speaker, European Movement in Scotland AGM, Glasgow
22 May 2026: Keynote on the ‘The Natures of European Nationalism: Simple Problems, Complex Questions and Disastrous Answers’, Beyond Security Conference, Charles University, Prague
19 May 2026: History of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, New Fellows Induction, Edinburgh
1 April 2026, Keynote iConference: ‘ From Analogue Edinburgh to Digital Futures: Enlightenment and the Smart City legacy and brand’, iSchools Conference, Edinburgh
21 March 2026: St Patrick’s Day Lecture, Trinity College Dublin Alumni Scotland: ‘Smart Cities are Nothing New: Dublin and Edinburgh, Then and Now
4 March 2026: ‘Scottish Art, Architecture and Culture, 1870-1914: Britain and the Continent in Conflict’, Charles University Prague, OP JAC Beyond Security: Role of Conflict in Resilience-Building Programme.
