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British Studies, Spring 2011 - Part Two

We’re two-thirds of the way through the semester...where did that go?
While it seems to have passed very quickly we have crammed quite a bit into the last five weeks. In regular lectures and seminars our exploration of British history and culture has taken us from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 to the beginning of the 20th century and the end of the Victorian era, and there have been a wide range of supplementary activities integrated into the College calendar to enrich that exploration.
There have been two splendid evening lectures, the first delivered by Dr Heidi Strobel from the University of Evansville on the subject of Queen Charlotte and artistic ‘matronage’ (not patronage). Harlaxton’s Dr Edward Bujak presented the second lecture, the first in a series of events commemorating 40 years of the University of Evansville’s association with Harlaxton Manor. Both lectures were very well attended.
The British Studies faculty lent a hand with the Student Development Office’s Afternoon Tea event. However, information on the social, economic and political role of tea in the nation’s history probably played second fiddle to the rather fine array of cakes, sandwiches, biscuits (‘cookies’ if you must) and range of teas.
Two field trips have been organised for this middle section of the British Studies course. The first offered a comparison of Southwell Workhouse, the first such institution in the country with our own Harlaxton Manor. The comparison is designed to provide an insight into the Victorian mindset and it’s also a fine opportunity to make use of Harlaxton itself. The house was built at the height of the Victorian age, when concepts of ‘Britishness’ were evolving, becoming fused with notions of history, empire and class. Our students therefore learn about Britain in a building that evokes all the complexities of the British identity.
The second field trip was a voluntary visit to the University of Nottingham, some 25 miles away. This was organised by our colleagues in the Academic Services department and offers students the opportunity to use the library and get a taste of academic life in a U.K. university.
In addition there has been a rich selection of travel opportunities organised by SDO and our faculty colleagues to Stratford-upon-Avon, the Lake District, Ireland, Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge and North Wales. We hope that the British Studies programme offers some context and insight for our students as they travel with the College and by themselves around the United Kingdom and further afield.
 
Dr David Green

Multiculturalism in Britain

Reports of and comments on Prime Minster David Cameron's speech on multiculturalism in Britain today:

Daily Telegraph

The Independent

The Guardian 

British Studies, Spring 2011 - Part One

British Studies forms the core academic programme at Harlaxton Colllege. It is an interdisciplinary survey of British history and culture from earliest times to the present day and it’s taken by all Harlaxton students. In addition to regular lectures and seminars we organise various experiential and extra-curricula events while the themes and issues discussed in British Studies are blended into a wide range of College activities, particularly the travel programme organised by our colleagues in the Student Development Office. So far this semester those additional activities have included the following events.

The first of our evening lecture series: Dr Joanna Huntington (University of Lincoln) spoke to a packed Gold Room (extra chairs needed) on the subject of the Anglo-Saxon rebel Hereward the Wake. 

Harlaxton’s inaugural Burns Night The Bistro just about held everyone who came for an evening of Scottish (and nearly Scottish) culture: there was haggis, poetry, one real Scot, many bad Scottish accents, and some rather good singing. (Thanks to SDO, stalwart members of the Visiting Faculty, the Catering staff and everyone else who helped, especially Dougie.)

Lincoln Field Trip It was a rather bleak day to be wandering around the Roman ruins dating back to about 50 A.D. but well worth it and there was some shelter in the castle (begun 1068), especially in the room which houses one of the original copies of Magna Carta. It was also warm enough in the cathedral (begun 1072) – home to two saints, a queen, numerous bishops and the site of occasional parliaments – it’s also a glory of Gothic architecture. (Once again thanks to all those who led tours and helped organised the day.)

Honors Field Trip to Irnham Hall and Church This provided a unique opportunity for British Studies Honors students to visit Irnham Hall and Church, once home of the Luttrell family, now home to Sir Simon Benton-Jones of Harlaxton’s Advisory Council. The Church once housed the famous Luttrell Psalter (c.1335), now one of the treasures of the British Library and a source we use extensively in the first section of the Honors course. (Many thanks to Dr Gordon Kingsley and Sir Simon Benton-Jones for their assistance in organising this.)

Irnham Hall

Peterborough cathedral: 67 students signed up for an optional visit to Peterborough led by Dr Phil Taylor, mainly to visit the cathedral (an abbey before the Reformation, with the most extraordinary 13th-century painted ceiling). Some received a tour of the cathedral and spoke with the Director of Music there in preparation for the next section of the Honors course.

 

Oh and there’s an exam on Wednesday...

 

Dr David Green

The Mystery of Dovecote Hill

Students and faculty from Harlaxton have had the unique opportunity to take part in an archaeological dig at Harston – a small village some five miles from the college. Harston itself was a settlement referred to in Domesday Book (1086) and may have had more ancient origins as this dig is revealing. The site appears to be a 10th century Saxon burgh built either as defence against Vikings or when the Saxons returned to take back the Danelaw (that area under Danish control in the 9th and 10th centuries). The burgh, if so it proves to be, may have been built on the site of an even earlier fortification.

Professors David Green (Harlaxton) and John Richards (Baker) have taken groups of students over to the site where they have been involved with digging, clearing the site and technical drawing. We’re very grateful for the opportunity to become involved with this fascinating project and hope that Harlaxton students will continue to play some part in the unravelling of the so-called ‘Mystery of Dovecot Hill’ when the site reopens in February/March next year.

 

Below are extracts from the most recent newsletters written by site director Rene Mouraille

“In September 2010 a breakthrough was made when a large wall 1.20m in width was uncovered close to the surface. Fragments of pottery from within the build of the wall turned out to be Torksey and Stamford ware all of pre-conquest origin. Furthermore beneath the Saxon wall there is evidence for a large ditch and if speculation proves to be correct, then this may be as much as 9m wide.  If this feature is defensive in structure it may well date to either the Iron Age or the earlier Bronze age. This is very exciting and we maybe on a major breakthrough in the history of not only Harston but the entire area!”

“Yesterdays work [involving Harlaxton students]  enabled us to clear all the turf and topsoil from over the watchtower feature to reveal and doorway complete with steps leading into the tower the ground floor of which comprises crushed ironstone.”

“The students from Harlaxton College managed to find the edge of the Natural in Trench 8 and also found a fantastic example of a piece of Torksey ware in the main ditch area. So we have now have got something to work against to find out if a large Iron Age ditch does exist beneath the Saxon Wall which in itself has also proved to be not on the same alignment as previously thought but at a different  angle within Trench 8.

The students also working in Michael Harrison’s section have uncovered the footings for Saxon Wall 1001. They are at least 5ft in diameter and are of an earlier build than the present Saxon boundary wall.”

The Battle of Trafalgar (1805)

Trafalgar account is a rare voice from below decks

An eyewitness account of the battle of Trafalgar has resurfaced, and demolishes the cliched view of life for ordinary sailors.

Days before the 205th anniversary of one of the most famous of all naval battles, an eyewitness account of the battle of Trafalgar has emerged – written by an ordinary sailor who viewed history in the making from the heat, smoke and stink below decks.

For further details follow this link.

British Studies Honors Course

Harlaxton’s first British Studies Honors course has recruited students from the universities of Evansville, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Western Kentucky, Wabash College, Texas Women’s University, and Hannibal-LaGrange College. The Honors course uses a rich array of sources local to Harlaxton as case studies to explore wider themes and issues.
 
 
Students are currently beginning their first research projects which are concerned with various aspects of medieval society. The subjects are diverse and fascinating.
Research topics include the following:
·         Castles: a comparison between regional properties in Lincolnshire and the Tower of London, which was visited during the first weekend of semester.
·         The grotesque and the supernatural in the middle ages.
·         Aristocratic and courtly life, using Tattershall castle and church as a case study (we'll visit Tattershall next week).
·         Ecclesiastical architecture, focusing on memorialisation and using Lincoln cathedral [above] as a case study (we visit Lincoln tomorrow).
·         'The Cult of Death' in the later Middle Ages.
·         Military strategy and tactics in the Hundred Years War.
·         The rise and influence of Parliament.
 
For further details of the Honors course please follow this link or email Dr David Green (dgreen@harlaxton.ac.uk)

The Blitz and the Battle of Britain: An American Perspective

Ed Murrow, the American broadcast journalist, gives his account of how the air battle moved from the Channel to the Kent coast, and then to London. He describes the living conditions of Londoners and the daily threat that their homes have been destroyed. Please follow this link.

British Novelists

In Their Own Words: Interviews with remarkable modern writers

Great writers have always fascinated their readers. We want to know how they create the characters we love or hate, the evocative settings, and the plots that have us reading late into the night, desperate to know what happens next.

 

Throughout its history, the BBC has aimed to help audiences delve into the imagination of writers. This collection of interviews with some of the 20th century's most read authors reveals something of those imaginations and the personalities which lie behind some of the greatest modern novels. The collection includes interviews with such writers as Virginia Woolf, Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, P.G. Wodehouse, E.M. Forster, Robert Graves and many others. Please follow this link.

 

Harlaxton Alumni Academic News

We're very pleased to announce the academic successes of a number of former Harlaxton students.

Fulbright Awards

Eileen Ryan and Jennifer Dooper (both of Western Kentucky University) have received prestigious Fulbright awards for 2010-11. They will be teaching English in Argentina and South Korea respectively. See here for further details.

 

A number of our former students are undertaking graduate work, some returning to the UK

Morgan Stankey (University of Evansville) is currently studying for a M.A. in Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Nottingham

Ashley Nolan (Eastern Illinois University) is working towards a M.A. in Medieval Studies at Saint Louis University

 

The following Harlaxton alumni are about to begin Masters courses in the UK

Kelly Cyr (UE) at the University of East Anglia

Erin Stork (UE) at the University of Glasgow (Creative Writing)

Felicia Stinson (WKU) at Roehampton University

Natalie Cook (UE) at the University of Edinburgh (Outdoor Education)

 

Please let us know about your academic successes.

Romantics, Tate Britain

This summer, romance is in the air in the Clore Gallery. A major new nine-room display presents Romantic art in Britain, its origins, inspirations and legacies. Drawn from Tate's collection, it showcases major works by Henry Fuseli, JMW Turner, John Constable and Samuel Palmer, as well as newly-acquired works by William Blake. From Turner's reinvention of landscape to Blake's visionary histories, the display reveals the imagination and innovations of a generation defined by belief in creative freedom, rather than tradition or style. In addition, two rooms look at the legacy of The Romantics, presenting work by Graham Sutherland and others.

9 August 2010 – 31 December 2012

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/romantics/default.shtm

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