BRIHC Seminar Series Archive

The BRIHC Seminar Series consists of academic talks, roundtables, and discussions from world-leading researchers. It runs across the academic year and reflects the whole scope of scholarly fields and disciplines represented in the School of History and Cultures at the University of Birmingham. 

Many of our seminars have been recorded and are available from this page

2021-22

Histories and Legacies of Psychological 'Treatments' for Homosexuality and Gender Non-Conformity

On 6 October 2021, in collaboration with the Modern British Studies Centre, BRIHC hosted a roundtable discussion on the histories and legacies of Psychological ‘treatments’ for homosexuality and gender non-conformity.

The session featured Kate Davison (History, Goldsmiths), Tommy Dickinson (Mental Health Nursing, King’s College London), Katherine Hubbard (Sociology, Surrey), and Helen Spandler (Social Work, Care and Community, University of Central Lancashire), who discussed their research into the history of such ‘treatments’ and the traumatic legacies created by such interventions. 

Related resources

The panellists have kindly suggested a range of readings and resources to help you further explore the issues and histories raised in the discussion:

Research by panellist Kate Davison:

Research by panellist Tommy Dickinson:

Research by panellist Katherine Hubbard:

Research by panellist Helen Spandler:

Other relevant research and resources:

Failure of Democracy: Political Threats and Economic Crisis in Interwar Europe

On Wednesday 13 October 2021, Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC) and the Institute for German and European Studies (IGES) hosted a discussion with Kurt Weyland (University of Texas at Austin, author of Assault on Democracy: Communism, Fascism, and Authoritarianism During the Interwar Years) and Tobias Straumann (University of Zurich, author of 1931: Debt, Crisis, and the Rise of Hitler) on the reasons for the failure of democracy in interwar Europe.

 

It was particularly interesting to hear how political scientists and economic historians have sought to explore these histories and what their studies reveal about the possibilities of interdisciplinary engagement.

Rethinking the Black Death

On Wednesday 20 October, BRIHC and CeSMA hosted a fascinating event titled ‘Rethinking the Black Death: Can the Ottoman Plague Experience Offer Us Novel Insights?’

Historian Nükhet Varlık (History, Rutgers) joined us to discuss how studying the Ottoman experience of plague (from ca. 1340s to ca. 1940s – six-hundred years of uninterrupted outbreaks) invites new possibilities for rethinking the Black Death pandemic in its global context. In the paper, Professor Varlik used historical, epidemiological, and ecological approaches, to examine the transformations of Ottoman plagues in the context of larger environmental and ecological changes, especially those in the flora and fauna of the eastern Mediterranean region. The evolutionary geneticist and biological anthropologist Hendrik Polinar (Anthropology, McMaster) then provided a short response on the inter-disciplinary implications of such work.

The event was organised by the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC), in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of the Middle Ages (CeSMA).

Recording details: Rethinking the Black Death recording.
Passcode: k&795A3R

Decolonization and Extraction Developmentalism

On Wednesday 27 October, we were joined by On Barak (Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv), Elizabeth Chatterjee (History, Chicago), and Megan Black (History, MIT) for ‘Decolonization and Fossil Developmentalism: Energy, Climate, Extractivism and Empire/Nation in the Twentieth Century’. 

Their papers provided a timely reminder of the importance of history and historical thinking as we look towards COP26. The event was organised by the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC), in collaboration with the Centre for Modern and Contemporary History (MCH) and the Centre for Modern History at City, University of London.

Recording details: Decolonization and Fossil Developmentalism recording.
Passcode: y86&Tv=X 

Hierarchies of Service

On Wednesday 17 November, we were joined by Professor Corinna Peniston-Bird (History, Lancaster) who spoke on the ways in which gender hierarchies have shaped Britain commemorative landscapes.

The 21st century has proved a fascinating period in which to study the commemoration of the World Wars in Britain. Since the turn of this century, the memorial landscape of Britain has been revised through numerous new monuments seeking to emphasise old or insert new narratives into public representations of war. This is particularly striking in terms of gender: whereas civilian men remain marginalised, in representations of women the breadth of roles adopted in wartime are increasingly acknowledged. However, their potential to disrupt the gender order is consistently contained.  Drawing on a wide range of monuments, some archival holdings and a smattering of oral interviews, the paper reflected on the sculptural renderings of wartime hierarchies of service. This event was organised by Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC), in collaboration with the Centre for War Studies (CWS).

Landscape, Nature and Environment

On Wednesday 10 November, we were joined by Henry Chapman (Archaeology, Birmingham), Andrew Fox (Classics, Nottingham), Ralph Fyfe (Geography-Archaeology, Plymouth), and Diana Spencer (Classics, Birmingham) for a discussion about how human interactions have impacted nature and the environment across time.

The roundtable explored how human activity has shaped landscapes and climate (and vice versa) and the ways in which such historic effects are visible through archaeological data, sites, and written sources. This event was organised by the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC), in collaboration with the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology and the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies (CBOMGS).

Who are the Audiences for Early Modern History?

On Wednesday 2 February, the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC) and the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies (CREMS) hosted a lively roundtable discussion on ‘Who are the Audiences for Early Modern History?’. 

Noah Millstone (History, Birmingham) chaired Paula Findlen (History, Stanford), Laura Sangha (History, Exeter) and Jacob Soll (Philosophy, History and Accounting, USC) in a discussion which questioned who the audiences for early modern history are and how they can they further broadened and engaged.

Forging Ahead

On Wednesday 9 February, the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC) and the Centre for West Midlands History (CWMH) were joined by researchers Simon Briercliffe and Elizabeth Thomson from the Black Country Living Museum.

Their fascinating presentations reflected on and discussed how their research has contributed to the ‘Forging Ahead’ project at the Museum. The session was live streamed from the Museum itself and featured objects from the Museum’s rich collections. 

Watch

Researching Black British Histories

On Wednesday 23 February, BRIHC hosted a roundtable discussion on ‘Researching Black British Histories’.

The discussion featured papers by Annabelle Gilmore (History, Birmingham) and Montaz Marche (History, Birmingham) and was chaired byKristy Warren (History, Lincoln). In the session we learned about the exciting new research being completed by Annabelle and Montaz and heard more about the future directions of the field of Black British Histories. 

Listen

Classics and “the Other”

On Wednesday 23 February, BRIHC, in collaboration with the Department for Classics, Ancient History and Anthropology, hosted a roundtable discussion on ‘Classics and “the Other”’.

The discussion featured papers from Samuel Agbamu (Classics, Royal Holloway London), Deborah Kamen (Classics, Washington) and Nandini Pandey (Classics, John Hopkins), and was chaired by Hannah Cornwell (CAHA, Birmingham).

Listen

Resources mentioned in the discussion

 

Historical Understandings of Mental Illness

On 9 March, the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC), hosted a roundtable discussion on ‘Historical Understandings of Mental Illness’ in collaboration with the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies (CREMS).

We were joined by Emily Betz (History, St Andrews), Angus Gowland (History, UCL), and Leonard Smith (Applied Health, Birmingham), who discussed how mental illness was understood and approached in the past.

Listen


 

Building Dogopolis: Dogs and Humans in Modern London, New York and Paris

In this BRIHC seminar, Chris Pearson (History, Liverpool) gave a paper entitled ‘Building Dogopolis: Dogs and Humans in Modern London, New York and Paris’.

In the session, Chris spoke about his new book Dogopolis: How Dogs and Humans Made Modern New York, London and Paris (Chicago, 2021), which explores the integration of dogs into the urban landscapes of London, New York, and Paris between 1800 and 1939. The paper explored how canine straying, biting, suffering, thinking, and defecating were shaped to conform with middle class emotional standards. This event was organised by the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC), in collaboration with the Centre for Modern British Studies (MBS).

Commonwealth Games: past, present, future

On Wednesday 27 April we were joined by Juanita Cox (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London), Michael Dawson (History, St Thomas University), Kate Nichols (Art History, Birmingham) and Verity Postlethwaite (Sport Business, Hartpury University).

They discussed the meaning(s) of the Commonwealth Games through time (past, present, future) and how it relates to our contemporary conversations about citizenship, race, and belonging in the long shadow of the British empire. This event was organised by the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures (BRIHC), in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of North America (CSNA).