Saturday 26 July 2014

Stop the First World War lecture series

Conway Hall Ethical Society and the Socialist History Society present

Stop the First World War - Oppositions to the Great War

A series of talks and discussions every Tuesday evening at 7pm from 30th September to 11th November 2014.
Curated by Deborah Lavin, and presented by Conway Hall Ethical Society and the Socialist History Society.
All lectures are £5
(£3 concessions and members of participating societies)
 Bookable Online
www.conwayhall.org.uk
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square
Holborn, London WC1R 4RL
Conway Hall is owned and operated
by Conway Hall Ethical Society.

Registered charity 251396

30 September at 7pm
Norman Angell - Liberal, Radical, Socialist, Pacifist or Patriot?
Prof. Martin Ceadel

7 October at 7pm
Bertrand Russell’s response to WWI
Chris Bratcher
Ramsay MacDonald and WWI
John Grigg

14 October at 7pm
British Labour Movement and the Outbreak of WWI
Prof. Willie Thompson
A Movement Divided, The Labour Movement and WWI
Prof. Keith Laybourn

21 October at 7pm
Irish Labour and WWI
Prof. John Newsinger
Radical Liberalism and the Outbreak of WWI
Duncan Bowie

28 October at 7pm
The Pankhursts at War
Katherine Connelly
Isabella Ford - Socialist and Feminist Peace Campaigner in WWI
Prof. June Hannam

4 November at 7pm
1914 and the Schism in International Anarchism
Pietro Dipaola
Not Our War
Tony Zurbrugge

11 November at 7pm
From Slaughter to Mutiny
Ian Birchall
WWI and the Russian Revolution to 1923
Prof. Christopher Read

Friday 18 July 2014

CfP: What's happening in Black British History? A Conversation

Thirty years after the publication of Peter Fryer’s Staying Power, immigration is still a hotly contested topic, while slavery continues to dominate popular perceptions of Black British History. New research is revealing different stories, but how is this being presented in Britain’s classrooms and museums?  We need a conversation between those actively involved in researching and communicating the history of peoples of African origin and descent in Britain about what it means to us today.
We invite you to join us at the first in what will be a series of workshops held once a term by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. The aim is to foster a creative dialogue between researchers, educationalists (mainstream and supplementary), archivists and curators, and policy makers. It will seek to identify and promote innovative new research into the history of people of African origin or descent in the UK. Researchers and archivists will provide an introduction to the ever-growing body of resources available.  We will also discuss the latest developments in the dissemination of Black British history in a wide variety of settings including the media, the classroom and lecture hall, and museums and galleries, thus providing an opportunity to share good practice. The workshops will consider a range of issues around Black British history including the way in which scholars have defined the field, debates around how and why it should be taught, especially in the light of the new national curriculum, and the tensions between celebrating the achievements of people of African descent in the UK and applying a critical perspective to the past.
The first workshop will take place at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in Senate House, London, on Thursday 30 October 2014. The day will run from 11am to 6.30pm, followed by a Reception. The event will consist of a keynote address, followed by three consecutive panels and a round table discussion. 
For our first workshop, the panels will be organised around the following themes: new directions in research; archives and records; and new methods of communicating Black British History. Each panel will consist of three presentations lasting for 15-20 minutes. An outline programme is given below. We would be delighted to hear from researchers, educationalists, archivists and curators or others interested in offering a presentation. Please submit a title and a brief description of your presentation either in writing (in which case, of no more than 300 words) or in some other form (for example a clip or podcast) with an indication of which panel you envisage contributing to, to Dr. Miranda Kaufmann at mirandackaufmann@gmail.com by 31 July 2014.
...
Draft Programme
The Senate Room, Senate House, London
Thursday 30 October 2014
...
10.45-11.00                            Registration, tea/coffee
11.00-11.30                            Keynote address (tbc)
11.30-1.00                              Session One: New Directions in Black British History
1.00-2.00                                 Lunch
2.00-3.30                                 Session Two: People of African descent in the archives
3.30-4.00                                 Tea/coffee
4.00-5.30                                 Session Three: Spreading the word: New developments
                                                  in the communication of Black British History
5.30-6.30                                 Round Table Discussion and Conclusions
6.30-7.30                                 Reception

To register for the event (discount for early registration) see here: 
Registration

Adebayo Bolaji reads Stokely Carmichael's speech to Dialectics of Liberation Congress, London 1967

Discover London at Bishopsgate Institute

120 Years of Learning: Discover London at Bishopsgate Institute
Travel back to the 1890s to discover what was happening in London and at Bishopsgate Institute 120 years ago or take a look at life for Londoners during the First World War. Discover the art and design of the Tube or examine the portrayal in paintings, photographs and popular culture. Find out more at http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/Courses#tab_289

Monday 7 July 2014

Colin Thomas: The Dragon and the Eagle

NEWS FROM NOWHERE CLUB
http://www.raymondwilliamsfoundation.org.uk/NfNHome.html

President: Peter Hennessy

8pm Saturday 12 July


Children's Choir Granville NY. Eisteddfod 1904


The Dragon and the Eagle:
Telling the Story of Welsh Emigration to America in a New Way
Colin Thomas

The Welsh migrated to escape religious and political persecution and in search of work.
America presented a dilemma common to migrants, how to retain language, culture 
and belonging to “home” while adjusting to the demands and pressures of a new situation.
The talk will include extracts from an enhanced ebook to appear this summer. 
http://www.bristolkitchenradio.com/portfolio/bkr-9-the-dragon-the-eagle-and-the-nightingale/

Colin Thomas was born and brought up in Wales. In 1982.  He co-founded Teliesyn and was chair of the 
co-operative for most of its history.  Award winning programmes include The Dragon has Two Tongues
Hughesovka and the New Russia and Border Crossing – the Journey of Raymond Williams

Epicentre
West St, Leytonstone, E11 4LJ

http://www.raymondwilliamsfoundation.org.uk/NfNfindus.html


Enquiries:   0208 555 5248    or
info@newsfromnowhereclub.org.uk

Saturday 5 July 2014

When Paul Foot interviewed Christopher Hill

I met the historian Christopher Hill once, last summer. I went with BBC producer Fiona Maclean to interview him in his Warwickshire home for a programme about poetry and revolution.
He took us into his garden on a bright summer afternoon and questioned us closely on how much time he had on air. He ascertained that he had a quarter of an hour. He then vanished upstairs and re-emerged staggering under a huge pile of books.
The tape recorder was switched on and he spoke, uninterrupted except by an infernal bee, referring to and quoting freely from his books for an hour. He spoke about Shakespeare, Andrew Marvell and above all John Milton, and their relationship to the English Revolution.
He spoke with such power and persuasive passion that we wondered, as we made our dazed way home, whether we should devote our whole 50 minutes to him alone...Christopher Hill’s great genius as a historian is not just that he can think himself back 300 years, and translate what often seem quaint and absurd religious discussions into the politics of the time...

Paul Foot, How history comes alive, Socialist Worker, 9 September 1993
- Paul Foot is being remembered at a special memorial meeting at this year's Marxism festival from 10-14 July in central London  - for details of the Foot meeting see here