CULTURES OF CONSUMPTION 1500-1800: PRODUCTS, DESIRE AND IMAGINATION
GHENT – 15-16 JANUARY  Conference room Simon Stevin, Jozef Plateaustraat 22.

DAY 1 – 15 JANUARY 2026

13.30-14.30 KEYNOTE LECTURE PROF. DANIEL FULDA. Delights beyond Virtue: Consumer Ethics in the German Enlightenment’s Comedy.

14.30-15.00  Discussion

15.00-15.15 Coffee break

15.15.-17.00 PRESENTATIONS ROUND 1 + FEEDBACK REVIEWER

• 15.15-15.30      Presentation Estel van den Berg. Literature consumption and the gendered distribution of desire in early modern Dutch comical theatre (1650-1725).
• 15.30-15.45      Questions
• 15.45-16.00      Presentation Annechien Hussem. Snuff tobacco and gendered desire in De buitenspoorige toebaksnuiver (1699).
• 16.00-16.15      Questions
• 16.15-17.00      Comments by Prof. Frans-Willem Korsten and discussion

Optional: Dinner at Antichi Sapori, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 204, Ghent

DAY 2 16 JANUARY 2026

9.00-10.00 KEYNOTE LECTURE PROF. INGER LEEMANS. The Sweet Smell of Desire: How the Dutch Created an Affective Economy for Fragrance Consumption.

10.00-10.30 Discussion

10.30-10.45 Coffee break

10.45-12.30 PRESENTATIONS ROUND 2+ FEEDBACK REVIEWER

• 10.45-11.00 Presentation Prof. MA Katritzky. Atypically-bodied performers: publicity, imagination, consumption.
• 11.00-11.15 Questions
• 11.15-11.30 Presentation Prof. Rebecca Dowd Geoffroy-Schwinden. Music and Eighteenth-Century Consumer Culture.
• 11-30-11.45 Questions
• 11-45-12.30 Comments by Prof. Cornelis van der Haven and discussion

12.30-13.30 Lunch break

Optional: visit to the exhibition ‘Vensters van verlangen’ in the Ghent University library. Exhibition is made by third year students of the Dutch language and literature bachelor.

13.30-15.15 PRESENTATIONS ROUND 3+ FEEDBACK REVIEWER

• 13.30-13.45 Presentation Dr. Laura Naudeix. Imaginary consumption in French ballet (1600–1660).
• 13-45-14.00 Questions
• 14.00-14.15 Presentation Eru Fevery. The Fascination with Transgressive Consumption in the Culture and Writing of Daniel Defoe: Cannibalism in Robinson Crusoe and Incest in Moll Flanders.
• 14.15-14.30 Questions
• 14.30-15.15 Comments by Prof. Karel Vanhaesebrouck and discussion

15.15-15.30 Coffee break

15.30-16.00 PERFORMANCE LECTURE SUZANNE KOOLOOS AND TOON FIBBE

16.00-16.30 Questions and discussion

Optional: Drinks at café and cultural centre VIERNULVIER, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 23, Ghent

This workshop is organised in cooperation with the research groups THALIA and GEMS.

There are still a few places available for colleagues who would like to participate in the discussions. If you are interested, please register by 9 January by sending an email to

Estel.vandenBerg@UGent.be or Cornelis.vanderHaven@UGent.be