Category Archives: history
Seeking Historian of Science
My department is seeking a historian of science (or an extremely capable scholar of western intellectual history) to administer a distance education course this summer (May-July) and next fall/winter (September-April) in the history of science that surveys the field from … Continue reading
Filed under history
Victoria and the Expectations of Queenship
(An outtake from my latest pop culture and history project.) From soon after her birth in 1819, it was clear that Victoria would inherit the English throne. The childbed death of her cousin, Princess Charlotte, left a succession of aging … Continue reading
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Filed under history
Ask the Right Question
Last term I instituted a new scheme in my intermediate level courses: require short presentations on pre-assigned discussion questions from every student and recycle those questions as essay fodder for the tests and exams. It’s done a fair bit of … Continue reading
Droolworthy Digital Resources
Sharon Howard, at Early Modern Notes has alerted us to a new project in which she’s involved: Manuscripts Online: Written Culture from 1000 to 1500. Colour me excited! She describes it as a kind of Connected Histories for medievalists. That’s … Continue reading
Why Can’t a Woman?
Here’s a familiar sociological catch-22: Women are enjoined to be “more like a man” but will be condemned for being too “mannish” if they do so. Pick any historically prominent woman and chances are you’ll encounter some version of this … Continue reading
Filed under history, pop culture
“Die and be damned”
In the fall of 1742, William Bird was tried for two murders although six women died on his watch one hellish July night. Bird’s trials provide an interesting insight into the lives of marginal women and the slightly less marginal … Continue reading
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Three Cleopatras
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes me hungry Where most she satisfies. – Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Scene 2 I’m working my way through three … Continue reading
Histories of “bad” people
I often get asked how I can research historical personages who aren’t “nice people”. It began with my doctoral research focusing on such wonderful people as Henry VIII (he of the six wives and several executed advisers including Thomas More … Continue reading
Filed under history, writing/editing
The Oppression of the Trade Federation
The editors of a forthcoming collection, Star Wars and History, invite proposals for an essay to focus on parallels between business groups and practices in Star Wars (e.g., the role of the Trade Federation) and historical examples of the roles … Continue reading
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Filed under history, pop culture
Please to See the Queen
Jane Seymour still fascinates me. Her queenship is often dismissed, as in Karen Lindsay’s conclusion that she’s left an essential “lack of self” in the historical record.1 I really don’t see how you can argue that! While her time at … Continue reading
