Harlac's Tongue - British Studies Centre

The Blitz and the Battle of Britain: An American Perspective

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:51:00 --0100

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

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:14:00 --0100

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

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:57:00 --0100

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

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:16:00 --0100

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

Views of Britain

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:32:00 --0100

Foreign Correspondents from The Independent newspaper give a range of views of Britain from around the world.

Anniversary of the Dunkirk Evacuation

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:49:00 --0100

Various ceremonies have taken place over the last week to mark the 70th anniversary of the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk in the Second World War. About 50 veterans attended the Allied Memorial on the seafront of the French port, with 50 of the original "little ships" off-shore. More than 300,000 Allied troops were rescued from the port in northern France in the mass evacuation in 1940 code-named 'Operation Dynamo'. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10188650.stm

Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts

Fri, 07 May 2010 11:29:00 --0100

One of the most important collections of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts - for centuries kept at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge - has been entirely digitised, and is now available on the internet on subscription.

The college's Parker Library holds more than 550 documents - including the 6th Century St Augustine Gospels, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the earliest history written in English.

Take a look at some of the most precious works, with librarian Suzanne Paul.

SAINTS, SINNERS AND STORY TELLERS: MEDIEVAL WOLLATON MANUSCRIPTS

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:26:00 --0100

Weston Gallery, University of Nottingham

Friday 30 April - Sunday 08 August .

A local collection of manuscript volumes offers an extraordinarily rich perspective on the literary tastes and religious faith of our medieval ancestors. Illustrated French romances and fourteenth-century texts in English demonstrate the move of literature from Latin to native languages, while a single leaf records in English the life of St Zita, the Italian saint of housekeepers.

Harlaxton Alumni Academic News

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:57:00 --0100

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

Fullbright Awards

Eileen Ryan and Jennifer Dooper (both of Western Kentucky University) have received prestigious Fullbright 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.

Harlaxton Alumni Academic News

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:57:00 --0100

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

Fullbright Awards

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.

Medieval Churches in Lincolnshire receive funding for repairs

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:39:00 --0100

More than £750 000 has been given to churches in Lincolnshire, including ones dating back to the 13th century, as part of a program by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund to provide funding for the repair of historical churches.

Our very own Church of St Mary and St Peter in Harlaxton will be receiving £142,000 for repairs.

Dr. Anthony Streeten, Regional Director English Heritage said: “We are delighted to be able to help twenty places of worship in the East Midlands through this important grant scheme. Historic places of worship are at the heart of their communities. They give us beautiful spaces where people can find peace or companionship. Increasingly, these fine buildings are places in which to enjoy exhibitions and concerts or where local communities can even benefit from practical services such as post offices, shops, nurseries. These grants will reinforce the magnificent voluntary effort in helping to preserve and protect this wonderful part of our heritage for present and future generations to enjoy.”

Chatsworth House reopens to public

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:12:00 --0100

The second phase of a £14 million restoration project at Chatsworth House, near Bakewell, Derbyshire, finished last weekend and it reopened to the public 14 March.

Part of the renovations include a new gallery devoted to Georgiana, wife of the 5th duke, the voluptuous superstar of 18th-century high society, complete with several hundred parts of her enormous mineral collection. Another is devoted to Lord Burlington (of Arcade fame), whose estates and art collections were absorbed into the Cavendish family through his daughter’s marriage to the 4th duke.

The present duke’s mother, the 90-year-old Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, has her own exhibition, with a Renoir on show, early works of Lucian Freud — and an Elvis phone. There is also a special edition of one of Evelyn Waugh’s books given to her by the author, with blank pages to avoid the bother of actually having to read it.

The exhibition runs until October 31.

Human remains found on 18th century Royal Navy wreck

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:09:00 --0100

A skull and rib bones were discovered under a cannon by marine archaeologists investigating the wreck of HMS Victory - the direct predecessor of Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar - which went down during violent storms in 1744.

In its day, the 1744 Victory was the biggest and most powerful ship in the world with a mighty 110 guns and fought during the War of the Austrian Succession.

Greg Stemm said: "This is the first time that we have come across a human skull and remains of this type." It is highly unusual for remains to be found in a wreck so deep, they would normally be eaten by the crabs, eels and fish.

On 3 October, Victory and the other ships of the line sailed into an almighty storm in the Channel Islands. All the ships returned, albeit limping - dismasted or with leaks - apart from the Victory. All 1,100 men were lost and only the ship's main topmast was ever found, washed up on Guernsey.

A musical and artistic look of England

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:50:00 --0100

Writers and 'psychogeographers' Iain Sinclair and Alan Moore undertake their own journeys across England in collaboration with musicians and artists inspired by English Journey, JB Priestley's account of England in 1933. The project starts at Faster than Sound in Aldeburgh with song collector Shirley Collins, composer/musician Susan Stenger, composer FM Einheit and visual artist Graham Dolphin, presenting a unique interpretation of the Suffolk countryside.

Link to video of an English journey re-imagined.

Archaeologists pinpoint long-disputed site of Battle of Bosworth

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:49:00 --0100

Archaeologists have located not just the site of the Battle of Bosworth, but the spot where – on 22 August 1485 – Richard III became the last English king to die in battle when he was cut down by Tudor swords.

The crucial evidence, including badges of the supporters of both kings, sword mounts, coins and 28 cannonballs, was found in fields straddling Fen Lane in the Leicestershire parish of Upton.

The site was located by archaeologists using metal detectors across hundreds of acres, and poring over the evidence of medieval place names to match them to accounts of the battle. Their finds suggest a sprawling fight, with the two armies facing one another in straggling lines almost a kilometre in length.

One of the crucial finds, the largest of the cannonballs nicknamed "the holy grapefruit" by the archaeologists, was found just behind one of Oliver's barns. Another key discovery was a silver boar no bigger than a thumbnail, battered but still snarling in rage after 500 years.

"The fact that this little boar is Richard's personal emblem, and made in silver gilt, means that it can only have been given to one of the closest members of his retinue. The man who wore this would have fought and died at Richard's side," Glenn Foard said.