Monthly Archives: September 2016

News round-up: Bonnie Evans

Over the next few weeks we’ll be posting some news round ups. Today’s is about Dr Bonnie Evans, Wellcome Trust-funded postdoctoral fellow at the Centre.
1. Bonnie’s book, The metamorphosis of autism: a history of child development in England, is due out in February 2017 with Manchester University Press.

2. She has secured Wellcome Trust funding for a symposium on ‘International histories and sociologies of autism’. The symposium will bring together international specialists working on this topic and will be held at the Centre for the History of Emotions in April 2017.

3. She has begun a ‘Historians in Residence’ project with the Institute for Public Policy Research. The project is using historical research to inform contemporary policy concerning early years childcare provision in London. The project will result in a report for the London Mayor, Sadiq Kahn, and the Greater London Assembly, which will also be available as a published report.

Centre Newsletter

You can see below a version of our new Centre Newsletter, hot off the press. If you’d like to receive quarterly newsletters in the future then sign up to our mailing list. For active links to all events, see our events pages.

Jules Evans on BBC Radio 4

Jules Evans was on the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘The Anatomy of Rest’ this morning (27 September) alongside the Hubbub collective. Missed it? Listen again on Iplayer Radio.

Annual Lecture

This year’s Annual Lecture will be given by Professor Stephen Brooke (University of York, CA). His lecture is titled ‘Hate and Fear: Emotion, Politics and Race in 1980s London’ and will take place on 6 December 2016 at 6.30pm in the Arts Two Lecture Theatre.

Abstract:

‘Hate and Fear? Emotions, Politics and Race in 1980s London’ will be an exploration of the role emotion played in race relations in 1980s London. It will examine incidents of racial harassment and violence on housing estates in London between 1981 and 1986 and relates those incidents to the history and theory of emotions, the political history of postwar Britain and our understanding of everyday life. The lecture will stress that understanding emotion is critical to comprehending the politics of race in London. The lecture will also reflect upon the broader role emotion plays in politics.

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in the foyer of the Arts Two building. Attendance is free but please book your place on Eventbrite. We look forward to seeing you there!

Registration now open – Annual Lecture

Registration is now open for our Annual Lecture! Book your free ticket on Eventbrite.

Evening Seminar and Drinks Reception

Music and Emotion Concert

What does music intend to mean and provoke? What does it mean to you? How differently do we react and respond to music based on circumstance and what you know about it? How does it affect your emotions?

This event draws you, the listener, proactively into some highly evocative music from a variety of perspectives. Some you will know about, some you will learn about, and some you will discover from different perspectives. We want to know what ‘emotions’ are provoked within you. We can only now tell you that one of the works will be by Claude Debussy. Be prepared for magical musical surprises!

To guide us all in our journey, outstanding musicians Lisa Nelsen (flute), David le Page (violin/viola) and Eleanor Turner (harp) are joined by historian of emotions and music Dr Marie Louise Herzfeld Schild. This event is supported by the QMUL Centre for Public Engagement.

Tickets £7, £3 for concessions.

Tiffany Watt Smith at Salon London

On Thursday 22 September, Tiffany Watt Smith will be talking about nostalgia and history at Salon London event on memory at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden (with geneticist Mark Rutherford and memory coach Mark Channon). Doors and Martinis 7pm.

Get your ticket online

Tiffany Watt Smith on BBC Radio 4

Tiffany Watt Smith has made two recent appearances on BBC Radio 4:

On 30 August 2016 she appeared on Making History talking about the history of anger
On 20 September 2016 appeared on BBC Radio 4 Making History, discussing the Victorian origins of our modern concept of boredom.

Museum of the Normal

From angst-ridden teenage letters to agony aunts to concerned posts in online parenting forums, it’s clear that as a society we are haunted by a fear of being labelled abnormal. But who gets to define what’s normal? It is really something to aspire to? And is worrying about ‘being normal’… normal? Or does it have a history all of its own?

At this drop-in late event at Barts Pathology Museum, led by the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions, visitors will enter the ‘land of the abnormal’: a pop-up world of games, activities, talks and performances addressing different aspects of the history of normalcy and the normative. Expect lost emotions, historical psychometric tests, themed refreshments, arts activities, history of medicine talks and tours of the pathology specimens.

This event is part of the AHRC Being Human Festival of the Humanities, and supported by the AHRC and Queen Mary Centre for Public Engagement.