Dr Rajiv Prabhakar wonders whether utopian or speculative fiction, such as Edward Bellamy’s ‘Looking Backward: 2000–1887‘, might be a useful guide when considering alternative visions for the future.
Covid-19 has brought the world of data-driven crisis management and social organisation out of the shadows. ‘This is an opportunity,’ says chartered geographer and University of Westminster lecturer, Doug Specht, ‘to examine its flaws and ramifications’ and ‘strive towards more inclusive mapping, more inclusive data and cautiously move towards a world in which data can play a […]
As oil prices tumble and we face high national debt, it seems particularly appropriate to reflect on the South Sea Bubble, a stock market crash from 300 years ago, and its contemporary documentation. Dr Karen Attar, research fellow at the Institute of English Studies, looks at the stories behind the headlines that were splashed across […]
As we celebrate the Year of the Nurse and the 150th anniversary of the British Red Cross, Institute of English Studies research fellow Dr Karen Attar, takes a look at an eye-witness account of a nurse who accompanied Florence Nightingale, ‘the lady with the lamp’, to Scutari in 1854.
Curator at Senate House Library Dr Karen Attar teases out what makes this novel different, including marriage and morality and clinical depression.
The coronavirus presents the British monarchy with a set of unique short-term and long-term challenges. In this third and final article, written in connection with the release of The Family Firm, Dr Ed Owens reflects on the royal response to the Covid-19 crisis and the consequences of the pandemic for the crown as we look […]
A new database of historic publications motivates Dr Karen Attar to rethink teaching with Senate House Library’s literary treasures.
During Oscars season back in February, Dr Sam Manning argued that cinema’s doom-mongers should look to the past to consider how theatres have dealt with threats, such as the emergence of television. Little did the cinema historian, who is based at Queen’s University Belfast, know then that cinemas would be forced to temporarily shut their […]
Dr Tripurdaman Singh, who holds a British Academy Fellowship at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, has just published his new book Sixteen Stormy Days, exploring one of the pivotal events in Indian political history. As India marks the 70th anniversary of the passing of its constitution, we caught up with him to learn more.
Dr Matt Shaw and Michael Townsend talk about the Institute of Historical Research’s (IHR) plans to develop its library holdings and respond to the important charge that discussion and initiatives around ‘decolonisation’ is sometimes just another form of ‘equality talk’. There aren’t many awards for libraries, but if there were, a case for a speech […]
