BIHG Annual Conference 2026
2-4 September 2026
Loughborough University
Early bird registration must be paid by 14 June 2026.
Welcome to the British International History Group
The British International History Group (BIHG) was established in 1987. It aims to consider and promote established and new approaches to the study of international affairs as a discipline of history.
The primary focus of the BIHG is its annual conference, of which it has held over 30, mainly at UK universities. These gatherings foster the scholarship of postgraduates and early career researchers alongside the work of senior academics. With over 700 members from Asia, Europe and North America, the BIHG has global reach.
The BIHG is governed by an elected committee of historians at varied career stages and co-opted members from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK National Archives. It sponsors an annual thesis prize named in honour of Professor Mike Dockrill and offers career and research support for PGRs and ECRs. At its annual conference, it holds roundtables which explore disciplinary and interdisciplinary innovations. The BIHG also invites leading scholars as keynote speakers to consider new approaches to the study of the past and the relevance of international history to contemporary global concerns.
Message from the Chair of the British International History Group
I wanted to update you an important development regarding the British International History Group going forward into the next year.
Those of you who attended the conference at UEA last September and who were at the AGM, may remember that I said that I hoped to hold elections to the BIHG Executive Committee for the first time since the Group has been in its present format in May 2026. Obviously, that did not happen and I want to explain why.
BIHG is currently in the process of applying for charitable status under the aegis of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. We have already made considerable progress and we have a much clearer sense of what is involved and how to go about it than we did in September. We also intend to engage a firm of specialist solicitors to help us get the paperwork over the line. A lot of that is very technical and legalistic. Therefore, the officers feel that it would be better for the current leads on this to continue their work and that it could potentially set us back timewise if we hold elections in the autumn only for a new team to have to get up to speed with this material. You will have every opportunity to question us at the AGM at Loughborough and if any of you want to talk to me individually at any other time, I am happy to do that. But it is now our intention to postpone elections to the Executive Committee until autumn 2027. If you have any initial thoughts, concerns, or suggestions, please can I ask you to let me have them by the end of this month, 30 June? In the meantime, I will continue to keep you updated.
In the meantime, the plans for the Loughborough conference are going very well, and I very much look forward to seeing you there on 2nd September
Best wishes,
Gaynor Johnson (June 2026)
