Dr Heidi Ashton (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) discusses how freelance workers in the creative sector are ‘Free Freelancers’ in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heidi details the precarity of this sector, the ways that freelance workers have fallen through the gaps of government safety nets, and the difficulties faced in monetising freelance work on digital platforms.

In this film, Dr Maria Barrett (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) examines this time of crisis for UK theatres as an opportunity for government, policymakers, theatre management teams and activists to reenvisage the sector and reach out to those not normally reached by, or represented in, our theatres.

Dr David Wright (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) examines the social divisions in the consumption of culture at home, and looks at the extent to which the digital cultural offerings of lockdown are available to all. David also asks what the risks are of privately owned platforms controlling our access to culture.

Today, explore with Dr Chris Bilton (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) a view of the ‘undigital’ creative economy and the impact that COVID-19 has had on it. Chris asks us to consider what performances, publications, and works of art and culture we value, and encourages us to try to support artists and creators directly.

Associate Professor Michael Meeuwis (English and Comparative Literary Studies) explores the history of Victorian theatre and, particularly, the Victorians’ love for amateur theatricals at home. Michael makes the link between these performances and how we’re keeping ourselves entertained during lockdown.

In this episode, Professor Roberta Bivins (History/Centre for the History of Medicine) explores how the NHS has always encouraged us to take action to protect our own health, and asks important questions about what kind of NHS we want in the future. Visit the website of the People's History of the NHS to learn more about the project.

In this second of our weekly Faculty of Arts at Home films, Professor Rachel Moseley (Film and Television Studies/Centre for Television History) explores the role that television has played in informing, educating and entertaining us about the domestic arts (cooking, sewing, home decoration, etc.). Rachel looks at the way the lines between public and private space have become blurred during the Covid-19 crisis and how we might make sense of this through television studies.

Dr. Naomi Pullin from the History Department discusses what we might learn from the history of domestic solitude in the early modern home in relation to our current lockdown situation. The story that Naomi tells here, based on the correspondence of Lady Anne Dormer (1648–1695), is one of the importance of keeping in touch with those we love.

New scientific analysis of the composition of Roman denarii has brought fresh understanding to a financial crisis mentioned by the Roman statesman and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero in his essay on moral leadership, De Officiis.

Professor Kevin Butcher explains the context: “In the years after 91 BC the Roman state was in danger of becoming bankrupt. The Romans were at war with their own allies in Italy, and by the conclusion of the war, in 89 BC, there was a debt crisis.

By 86 BC there appears to have been a crisis of confidence in the currency, too. Cicero related how the Roman tribunes approached the college of praetors to resolve the crisis, before Gratidianus claimed sole credit for the collective effort.

“One theory is that Gratidianus fixed the exchange rate between the silver denarius and the bronze as (which had only recently been reduced in weight). Another is that he published a method for detecting fake denarii, and so restored faith in the coinage.

Our latest Faculty of Arts at Home film ties in with the Resonate Festival, the University of Warwick’s year-long programme of events for City of Culture, and its focus on Community throughout the month of July. Kat Pearson (PhD Student in Film and Television Studies) introduces her research into UK Cities of Culture and television, and the role that the television archive plays in placemaking. Kat discusses how she worked with the Media Archive for Central England’s collection of historic television to curate screenings of footage of Foleshill for community members, and to produce a film reel about Coventry’s architecture and public art for the Metropolis exhibition which opened in the city this month. She also discusses her role in the production of BBC4’s documentary ‘Coventry Cathedral: Building for New Britain’.