A series of six public lectures on current issues raised by the study of the past

Chair: Daniel Snowman

5 October 2016: Rhodes statue and Beyond: How far can/should history be re-written in accordance with current values?  History and the pros and cons of ‘apology’.  Are there things about the past that it is not acceptable to mention (or research)?
Panel: Martin Daunton, Margot Finn, Jinty Nelson & David Starkey

2 November 2016: History and Change: Is history necessarily the story of ‘change’?  Who/what makes things change? The role of ‘Great men/women’ - and other factors?
Panel: Margaret MacMillan, Rana Mitter, Andrew Roberts & Gareth Stedman Jones

7 December 2016: The Focus of History: Much history is national history.  But should ‘history’ focus on the nation?  Or the locality - or maybe the wider world?  Or on ‘things’?  And should it have a short, precisely defined temporal focus - or a longer durée?
Panel: Maxine Berg, Jerry Brotton, Richard Drayton & Chris Wickham

11 January 2017: Lessons from the Past: Does history ‘repeat itself’?  What kind of ‘lessons’ can we learn from history?  ‘Counterfactual’ history: could the past have been different?
Panel: Jeremy Black, Taylor Downing, Ian Mortimer & Lucy Riall

8 February 2017: History and Religion(s): What role has religion played in the unfolding of history?  Has it  provided a fundamental motivating force?  Or has religion primarily reflected deeper socioeconomic trends and priorities?
Panel: Felicity Heal, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Miri Rubin & Brian Young

9 March 2017: The Future of the Past: How will future historians judge today’s historiography?  What do we over-emphasise (or under-emphasise)?  ‘Big’ History, ‘big’ data: how is ‘history’ changing in the digital age?
Panel: Caroline Barron, Anne Curry, Charlotte Roueché & Jane Winters

Advanced registration for this lecture series is required.

Tickets are £5 per session or £25 for all 6 sessions.

Tickets are available to purchase through the University of London Online Store.

Free for Friends of the IHR

If you have an enquiry about this lecture series please contact the IHR Events Office (ihr.events@sas.ac.uk).