Institutional Critique

Un-siloed critical humanities since 2012

The Midlands Conference in Critical Thought operates without keynote hierarchies or corporate sponsorship. Conference streams are proposed, convened, and built entirely by participants across regional universities.

12

annual gatherings

0

keynote hierarchies

100%

open access proceedings

Conference Origins

Countering academic commercialization

Founded in 2012 by early-career researchers, the conference emerged as a direct response to rigid institutional siloing and inflated attendance fees. We reject central keynote agendas, choosing instead to let emergent debate shape every session.

The gathering rotates annually across Midlands universities, maintained by a voluntary committee of postgraduate scholars and independent researchers dedicated to methodological openness and collective labor.

Organising Principles

Radical humanities without commercial barriers

Intellectual friction requires accessible spaces. We prioritize experimental research, interdisciplinary dialogue, and collective governance over institutional prestige or metric-driven university agendas.

Direct Communication

Committee inquiries

Reach out directly for institutional queries, stream convenor support, accessibility accommodation requirements, or open-access proceeding records.