In the news...
David Edgar discusses Raphael Samuel (ed.), Patriotism
Among the many projects of Raphael Samuel was work on the complex, politically difficult, areas of 'patriotism', 'Britishness' and 'Englishness'. The three volumes of essays on Patriotism: the making and unmaking of British national identity which he edited in 1989, have been the subject of a 'salute' from David Edgar, leading British playwright, in an article in The Guardian. You can read it by clicking here.
Love Week
Web coverage of Love Week events can be found at:
BBC London, 21 January 2010, Lessons in Love From History
History Today, 5 February 2010, History Happenings this weekend
Times Higher Education, 11 February 2010, Hither, Hither, Love
The history of the first New Left
Samuel was one of the key figures in the formation of the British New Left of the 1950s and early 1960s. One of the products of that formation was New Left Review, which has just published its 50th anniverary issue. The issue includes Stuart Hall's assessment of the first New Left: click here to read it.
Black history month
The following letter of protest appeared in The Guardian, Saturday 27 February 2010:
We write to protest at the slashing of funds for Black History Month by the London mayor (Boris Johnson criticised over slashing funding, 17 February). In 2009 Boris Johnson praised BHM for its vital work in educating people about the "historical role and the huge contribution of African and Caribbean communities to the capital". So why is he now cutting its funding to the bone? It is particularly ironic that this occurs in the run-up to the Olympics, with the GLA busy marketing London as a great world city. We ask the mayor to immediately reverse this ill-judged decision and to restore BHM's funding.
Professor Barbara Taylor (Raphael Samuel History Centre, University of East London)
Dr Matt Cook (Raphael Samuel History Centre, Birkbeck, University of London)
Prof Stuart Hall (Emeritus, Open University)
Sarah Waters (writer)
Prof Catherine Hall (University College London)
Prof Alun Howkins (University of Sussex)
Prof Jerry White (Birkbeck, University of London)
Prof Cora Kaplan (Queen Mary University of London)
Prof Jane Caplan (Oxford)
Prof Norma Clarke (Kingston University)
Prof Matt Innes (Birkbeck, University of London)Dr David Feldman (Birkbeck, University of London)
Prof John Arnold (Birkbeck, University of London)
Prof Lynne Segal (Birkbeck, University of London)
Dr Anne Summers (Birkbeck, University of London)
Dr Caroline Humfres (Birkbeck, University of London)
Prof Sally Alexander (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Dr Sean Brady (Birkbeck, University of London)
Dr Serafina Cuomo (Birkbeck, University of London)
Alex Potts (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
Professor Andrew Hemingway (University College London)
Dr Steve Edwards (Open University)
Dr Gail Day (University of Leeds)