On the Subject of Speed... Thomas Hardy Tuesday 23 October 2018 Born in 1840 in rural Dorset but writing up until his death in 1928, English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy witnessed dramatic social, scientific and technological changes.
Sneak Preview of Victorian Speed! Thursday 11 October 2018 On the evening of Thursday 18th October, the Museum of the History of Science will be throwing open its doors for a special event – Victorian Speed: The Long History of Fast Living.
The Magic Mango Wednesday 29 August 2018 Amelia Bonea’s story The Magic Mango, published by Pratham Books’ StoryWeaver, is now available in 7 languages on the StoryWeaver website https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/27150-the-magic-mango
'Sanitation on the Shop': Health and Retail Work in Late Victorian Britain Thursday 28 June 2018 In 1892, the Lancet launched an inquiry into the dangers of retail work.
Creative Health; or, what would Vernon Lee have to say to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing? Wednesday 23 May 2018 It was Mental Health Awareness Week last week, and I’ve been looking back at the July 2017 Inquiry Report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing (#ArtsHealthWellbeing).
Dracula and Modern Life Wednesday 2 May 2018 Dr Emilie Taylor-Brown, Dr Hosanna Krienke, and Dr Sarah Green recently led a post-performance panel discussion for Creation Theatre’s production of Dracula, which was staged at Blackwell’s Bookshop.
The Contagion Cabaret at the Science Museum (London) Monday 30 April 2018 Last night The Contagion Cabaret brought its infectious entertainment to audiences at the Science Museum’s ‘Superbugs’ Late.
A Home or a Gaol? Scandal, Secrecy, and the St James’s Inebriate Home for Women Tuesday 24 April 2018 The advance Open Access copy of Jennifer Wallis’s article on late Victorian inebriate homes for women, is now available here.
‘Wholesale poisoning by hot cross-buns’ and bizarre murders of medical men Friday 30 March 2018 As you bite into your delicious hot cross-bun this Easter, spare a thought for the inhabitants of Inverness in 1882, who were subjected to ‘whole-sale poisoning by hot cross-buns’, with over 140 worthy citizens and children affected.
Confusing Times: Communicating, 24/7 Friday 2 March 2018 In the age of smartphones, broadband internet access, and cheap(ish) air travel, the vision of the ‘global village’, appears to have become a reality.
Full video from Contagion Camerata Friday 16 February 2018 This is the full video from our Contagion Camera event from 2 February, 2018. See more at Contagion Camerata
Contagion Cabaret, Meet our Student Composers video Tuesday 23 January 2018 Interviews with local students who composed music around themes of contagion, medicine, and science.
Now What? Surviving Serious Illness in the Nineteenth-Century Monday 8 January 2018 Writing in 1991, sociologist Arthur W. Frank declared that Western scientific medicine had created what he called “the remission society,” a growing number of patients whose lives were saved by medical treatment but who could not be considered cured.
The Proof is in the Pudding: A Bah! Humbug! Victorian Christmas Saturday 23 December 2017 ‘He is an utter and bombastic fraud. He rolls spluttering and crackling onto the English dinner-table at Yuletide, a sprig of English holly cocked jauntily in his cap, well nigh bursting his rotund body in swaggering sham patriotism.’
Christmas and the Victorian Medical Press Tuesday 19 December 2017 The release of The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) – a film which tells the story of how Charles Dickens penned A Christmas Carol in 1843 – has reignited the popular myth that the Victorians ‘created’ the festive season.
‘Fake News’: Insights from the NPHFI’s Tenth Annual Conference, Newcastle University, 10-11 November 2017 Tuesday 12 December 2017 The Tenth Annual Conference of the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland, held at the University of Newcastle on November 10-11, 2017, addressed a topic that no doubt resonates with many contemporary discussions.
Telegraphy's Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs Friday 20 October 2017 My research aims to uncover the lesser-known twists and turns in this narrative, to explore both the hopes and the frustrations, the anxieties as well as the excitement which were associated with telegraphy in nineteenth-century Europe.
Not Having Sex in the Victorian Period Wednesday 18 October 2017 If you don’t have sex, you will be better at something else.
American Historical Association’s The Eugenia M. Palmegiano Prize in the history of journalism awarded to Amelia Bonea Wednesday 11 October 2017 Amelia Bonea, Postdoctoral Research Assistants, has won the American Historical Association’s The Eugenia M. Palmegiano Prize in the history of journalism.
Songs, Cakes, and Games: Thoughts on Performing, Baking, and Playing Our Research at Oxford's Curiosity Carnival Tuesday 3 October 2017 On 29th September 2017, Oxford hosted the Curiosity Carnival – a city-wide public engagement event as part of European Researcher’s night.
A Medical Student's Perspective... Monday 21 August 2017 This is a guest post written by Wan Ting Yew, a first year in pre-clinical medicine at University College Dublin.
Stressed out? So were the Victorians. Wednesday 19 July 2017 We didn’t invent the ‘diseases of modern life’; people in Victorian England worried about anxiety and overwork, too.
Video of Germs Revisited Tuesday 20 June 2017 On Thursday 16 March 2017, Dr Emilie Taylor-Brown gave a talk with Dr Jamie Lorimer (School of Geography and the Environment) and Dr Nicola Fawcett (Medical Sciences Division) on the subject of Germs Revisited.
