After the success of last year's first International Conference on the History of Freemasonry in Edinburgh, Scotland, the news comes from author, friend and brother Robert Cooper that more is on the way.The 2nd ICHF will be May 29th-31st, 2009, and it is now expected that the event will be a biannual conference. The intention is to allow contributors ample time to submit proposals during the call for entries, and, if accepted, to then write their papers. Power Point proposals are encouraged.
From the Grand Lodge of Scotland's website:
ICHF is not a Masonic Conference in the way we Freemasons usually perceive 'Masonic Conferences'. ICHF is quite different in that it is the only conference in the world that brings togther academics who are studying aspects of Freemasonry with Freemasons and members of the public.
ICHF is not a profit making body and if, and when, a surplus is made it will be used for charitable purposes.
It is intended that ICHF will be a biennial event. 2009 is special to Scots as it marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the National Bard - Brother Robert Burns. It is to be hoped that some of the papers at the conference will cover, for example, the impact that Freemasonry had on the life and work of Brother Burns. This is important as ICHF will move elsewhere in 2011.
Although styled an 'academic' conference it was heartening to see the number of Freemasons and members of the public who attended last year's conference and it is hoped that this will be repeated again next year.
The First Announcement and Call for Papers are now available. More information will soon be available on the conference web site www.ichfonline.org
