History News

Dr Anna Hájková was interviewed by Nicolas Weill for Le Monde about Claude Lanzmann’s recent documentary on Benjamin Murmelstein, the last Elder of the Jews of Theresienstadt. Murmelstein was one of the very few Jewish functionaries to survive the war and many survivors bitterly accused him of collaboration. Dr Hájková was the first historian to use Lanzmann’s video archives in the USHMM in 2007 and has widely published and presented her research on Murmelstein.

http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2013/12/20/le-cas-murmelstein_4337501_3246.html

Dr Roberta Bivins, Director of the Centre for the History of Medicine, featured on the BBC World Service programme World Update with Dan Damon on 23rd January 2014 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007dhp8). The feature was in conjunction with a talk given by Dr Bivins at the Wellcome Collection for its 'The Parts and the Whole' event (http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/events/the-parts-and-the-whole-1.aspx).

 
The University is saddened to report the death of one of Warwick’s founding academics, Professor Alistair Hennessy. Professor Tony McFarlane records his achievements, while colleagues from Warwick and other universities share their memories of the man and his times.

Thursday the 21^st of November Dr Laura Schwartz, Associate Professor in the Warwick History Department, launched her new book Infidel Feminism: Secularism, Religion and Women’s Emancipation, England 1830-1914 (Manchester University Press) at the Bishopsgate Institute Library in East London. She introduced her book together with her former supervisor, Professor Barbara Taylor (QMU), author of the classic Eve and the New Jerusalem: Socialism and Feminism in the Nineteenth Century (Virago, 1983).

Infidel Feminism follows the lives and writings of a group of women activists who developed feminist thought in relation to anti-religious and secular ideas during the Victorian and Edwardian period. Dr Laura Schwartz connects the themes of her book to current political debate on religion and the public sphere. The Bishopsgate Institute Library holds a fine book and archive collection on London history, history of socialism, feminism and freethought.

Candidates interested in applying for a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship with the Warwick History Department must submit their preliminary application to the Department by midnight on Monday 6th January 2014. Please check the details of what is required by the Department from potential applicants.

Stagecoach, in partnership with the University, has named nine Unibus buses after the founding professors of the University. The professors founded the University of Warwick in 1965 with disciplines including French, Engineering, History, Mathematics, Politics and Chemistry. Last year Stagecoach invested £1.6 million in new Wi-Fi fitted, state-of-the-art double deck buses for the Unibus service and offered the University the opportunity of naming the vehicles. The buses which run from the popular student area of Sydenham to Warwick University via Leamington carry more than 1.8 million students a year. The naming of the buses reflects the close partnership between Stagecoach and the University.

Dr Roberta Bivins, Dr Jonathan Davies and Professor Bernard Capp with Mr Mathew Hale and Lady Sheila Hale, the son and wife of founding professor Sir John Hale

Chiara Farnea Croff, Warwick’s Venice Programme Coordinator, has won first prize in a campaign organised by the prestigious Venice opera house La Fenice to tackle violence against women.

Chiara has volunteered for many years for a charitable organisation which offers help to women seeking refuge, and the prize marks a continuation of her efforts to highlight this issue.

La Fenice launched a competition to think up a slogan, which Chiara won with an entry based on the name one of opera’s most famous heroines.

Her winning slogan was:

• C onoscenza (Knowledge)
• A utonomia (Independence)
• R ispetto (Respect)
• M emoria (Memory)
• E ducazione (Education)
• N onvielenza (Nonviolence)

Chiara said, "This is a topic I'm passionate about, so to receive this award is an absolute honour." The prize was awarded by a jury consisting of leading figures from Venice’s cultural community.

Chiara Farnea Croff with Italian actress Ottavia Piccolo and Cristian Chiarot, the Sovrintendente of the Teatro la Fenice

Candidates interested in applying for a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Warwick History Department must submit their preliminary application to the Department by midnight on Monday 30th September 2013. Please check the details of what is required from potential applicants.