Researchers from the Department of History will be delivering a series of talks at Warwick Words History Festival. Now in its twentieth year, Warwick Words is a popular annual event, bringing internationally acclaimed historians to share stories from the past to venues around Warwick.

Since 2012, the University of Warwick has collaborated with the festival on a series titled Tea Time talks, where academics from the Department of History discuss their research. This year, topics are:

History and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine – Professor Christoph Mick and Dr Claire Shaw, Saturday 8 October

Picking up the Pieces: Gender and Romantic Failure in late 20th Century Britain – Dr Zoe Strimpel, Saturday 22 October

The Politics of Touch in the late 18th Century – Professor Mark Philp, Saturday 26 November

The programme also includes a play written by PhD student David Fletcher and performed by Loft Theatre company. Taking the Waters tells the story of a cholera epidemic that took place in Leamington Spa in 1849, and the medical and political conflicts that surrounded it.

Other speakers at the festival include Tracy Borman, Max Hastings, Dan Jones, Adam Rutherford, Charles Spencer and Alison Weir. Tickets are available from Warwick Words’ website: https://warwickwords.co.uk/ 

Dr James Hodkinson from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures has been collaborating with Birmingham-based Soul City Arts on their latest project, Waswasa: a multi-disciplinary art show staged in an immersive setting at Birmingham Hippodrome, using real-life community narratives to explore the act of Islamic prayer and what that means in a modern, secular society.

Lead artist Mohammed Ali and his team aim to demystify this familiar yet misunderstood tradition through an extraordinary multi-media show that will challenge perceptions. The show relates deeply to people of no faith too, as we all struggle with achieving that higher state of focus with things like social media, technology and other distractions dominating our lives.

Thursday 25 Aug – Saturday 3 Sep 2022 at Birmingham Hippodrome

Part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival

Buy Tickets for Waswasa: www.bit.ly/waswasa

• Read more about Waswasa: www.soulcityarts.com/waswasa
• View the Waswasa Press Release: https://www.soulcityarts.com/waswasa-press-release

How do you find that elusive flow state? How can we focus in a world of distractions?

Join the conversation: #WaswasaShow #B2022Festival @SoulCityArts @AliAerosol @BrumHippodrome

The 1970s brought violence and fear to Chile.

On 11^th September 1973, General Pinochet’s coup marked the end of Salvador Allende’s presidency and the beginning of a brutal period in Latin American history. From Allende’s death until 1990, Chile was ruled by a military junta that carried out a program of persecuting alleged dissidents, in which over 3,000 civilians disappeared or were killed. During this period, almost 3,000 Chileans escaped political persecution, coming to the UK as refugees.

Professor Alison Ribeiro de MenezesLink opens in a new window from the School of Modern Languages and CulturesLink opens in a new window is studying the UK-based refugee effort and the experiences of those involved in order to address the fact that the stories of these particular refugees lack a more formal legacy (being largely absent from the collection of Chile’s Museum of Memory and Human Rights, for instance). In exploring the neglected experiences of this group, Professor Ribeiro de Menezes has devised strategies to share their story more widely as well as to approach the traumatic impact of this violent period in Chile’s history.

Have a taste of what it is like to be a Faculty of Arts student through the video of the recent FAB Festival and opening of Warwick's new Arts Building.

Classics (3rd) in the UK’s top 5 institutions for research excellence according to the Times Higher.

89% of our overall research activity across the Faculty was judged in REF2021 to be of world-leading or internationally excellent quality.

In the final episode of the #FacultyofArtsatHome series, Professor Stéphanie Panichelli-Batalla gets us thinking about health and its delivery from a global perspective, by sharing her research on the Cuban Internationalist Solidarity Programme.

ListenLink opens in a new window to find out more about what healthcare means to the professionals on the programme, as well as how the programme itself has impacted Cuban society.

Coventry's year as 'UK City of Culture 2021' draws to a close in April 2022. The University of Warwick will celebrate Coventry's magnificent tenure with a campus finale of the Resonate Festival, taking place from the 19^th - 21^st April 2022.

But what does it mean to be a 'City of Culture', and from where did this scheme originate? Who chooses the 'winning' city, what sorts of criteria are used to select the winner, and what is expected of a city once they have been awarded the title?

In this episode of #FacultyofArtsatHomeLink opens in a new window, PhD Researcher Emily Dunford - whose research specifically focuses on Coventry's tenure as UK City of Culture 2021 - will answer these questions and more, providing insights into the wider social, economic and political aspects of the scheme and how it shapes the places where we live.

This month the Resonate FestivalLink opens in a new window showcases Amazing WomenLink opens in a new window, focusing on women’s lives, women’s stories, and the work of great women who have pushed all areas of all our lives forward.

Accordingly, in this videoLink opens in a new window Professor Sarah RichardsonLink opens in a new window from the Department of History tells us about the Mapping Women's SuffrageLink opens in a new window project, which aims to identify, plot and record the everyday lives and locations of as many Votes for Women campaigners as possible across England at the height of the suffrage movement in 1911. In particular, Sarah introduces us to some local Coventry and Warwickshire women who made their mark in the suffrage effort.

Intrigued to discover the story of the suffragette who lived down your street? You can check out the interactive map database hereLink opens in a new window.

Want to hear more about the Coventry women who fought for women’s right to vote? You can walk in their footsteps as part of the Resonate Festival:

Coventry Women's Suffrage Walk

• Saturday 19 march 2022
• 11:00-12:00
• Starting at Coventry Transport Museum CV1 1JD
• FREE event - book your place hereLink opens in a new window

Amphibious Screens: The Sustainable Cultures of Water Seminar Series, hosted by The University of Warwick, begins on January 27th. This online series delves beneath the surface to connect new research ideas from around the world with professionals, practitioners, activists as well as the cultural sector in four online seminars.

You can join one or all of these free seminars to understand more about how the film and TV industries in Miami, Reykjavik, Cornwall and Venice are deeply connected to a watery sense of place, water pollution, water scarcity and water cultures.

For further details and to register click here.