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History & The Arts
Art history: modern and contemporary
Baffled by modern art and architecture? You’re not alone! This collection gives new insight into today’s shifting kaleidoscope of visual culture by placing it in the context of the developments of the 19th and 20th century. In the mid 19th century there was a growing realisation that everything had changed. Industry was booming, and the ...
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History & The Arts
Repatriation and returning remains
19th Century philosopher Jeremy Bentham allowed his body to be put on public display after he passed on but would you allow your body to be displayed after you die? The following video and audio collection examines specific cases in which the issue of display and ownership are raised and explores how museums have handled this question. Experts ...
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History & The Arts
Exploring Greek vases
What can you learn about an archaic community from the art they created? Can the way in which their artefacts are displayed enhance the experience of viewing it? Very few remains still exist from Ancient Greek culture on the whole. However because of the durability of the material, pottery is a large part of the archaeological record from this ...
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Languages
Charles Dickens: Celebrity Author
Charles Dickens was not only the most famous writer of his day, but, during the second half of his career, also a prominent public figure known through his readings and speeches. He cultivated, and relished, a close relationship with the vast audiences who came to hear him, in towns and cities throughout Britain, and in the USA. His readings ...
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History & The Arts
Perceptions of English literature
To what extent has the definition of English literature changed over the last 50 years? What criteria do we use when classifying a novel as English? And is this definition organic enough to assimilate new works and different interpretations? Professor Terry Eagleton leads the discussion by explaining how perceptions of Englishness changed during...
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History & The Arts
James Berry: Windrush songs
How does a poet represent two distinctly different cultures in their work? How did James Berry interpret his experience and those of other Jamaican’s that migrated to England in the late 1940’s into his writing? James Berry was born in Jamaica in 1924, but moved to England during the wave of immigration from the West Indies led by the Empire ...
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History & The Arts
Greek Heroes in Popular Culture Through Time
What does ‘2001: a Space Odyssey’ have to do with Odysseus? How does Brad Pitt's Achilles in 'Troy' match up to Homer's original hero? And is Arnold Schwarzenegger the new Heracles? This collection of video animations and audio discussions examines how the heroes of Greek mythology have been represented in popular culture, from ancient times to ...
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History & The Arts
Duchess of Malfi: Deconstructing the play
Does the Duchess of Malfi have any resonance with modern-day audiences? Are it’s themes of politics and revenge still relevant today? Since it was originally published in the seventeenth century the play has been interpreted in a variety of ways, each different director examining the story and realising a unique translation of the work. In 2010...
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History & The Arts
Othello and apartheid
Can a play written in the seventeenth century protest against contemporary issues? Is it possible to use a Shakespearian tragedy draw attention to political injustice? Apartheid was a system of enforced legal racial segregation in South Africa that was imposed on the country's majority non white inhabitants by the minority white population. In ...
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History & The Arts
Wordsworth, De Quincey and Dove cottage
Can a location inspire great poetry? To what extent can a person’s environment influence their art? After leaving the area as a child the Romantic poet William Wordsworth returned to the Lake District and remained there from 1799 to 1802. Surrounded by scenery he cherished Wordsworth composed some of his best poetry in Dove Cottage, but the ...
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History & The Arts
The Romantics
How did Romantic writers address questions of identity? How did their experiences influence the way they expressed themselves? The Romantic period saw a rise in creative, artistic and intellectual pursuits in eighteenth century Europe. The era placed greater emphasis on emotion and intuition as opposed to the scientific rationalisation which had...
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History & The Arts
James Joyce’s Dublin
How did the fictional world James Joyce created reflect his own experiences of Dublin? Did Joyce write about a distinct Irish identity that had been ignored by many writers in the past? James Joyce was born in1882 and during the course of his life became one of the most influential Irish poets and novelists of his age. This discussion takes ...