lectures

How Extremism Spreads Thursday 20th February 2020 1.00pm - 2.00pm 8 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6EZ Groups embracing fanatical ideologies are on the rise worldwide. How can understanding their social and online behaviour help to counter them? Extremist groups are by no means a new phenomenon, but the internet has radically changed the way these groups operate, turbo-charging their ability to target and recruit susceptible people and advance dangerous agendas. What brings people to these networks, and what keeps them there? How do they mobilise their members to spread hate and disinformation, plot intimidation campaigns, and coordinate terrorist activity? Counter-extremism expert Julia Ebner shares the findings from her time spent undercover in these dark corners of the internet, observing how the cultures of extremist groups operate and how they are evolving. Technologically smart, emotionally manipulative, and socially powerful, these networks threaten to shift our politics and our societies in a dangerous direction – but understanding how they play on our weaknesses and exploit the tools at their disposal, Ebner tells us, is key to protecting ourselves and each other against the harms of extremist ideology. #RSAextremism

Join our librarians to learn about the history of Guildhall Library and tour the building.

Postponed because of strike. Part of the Agrarian Change Seminars. Further details to follow shortly.

‘Brexit, education and Empire’ Professor Sally Tomlinson (Goldsmiths College) author of Education and Race from Empire to Brexit (2019) and (with Danny Dorling) Rule Britannia: Brexit and the end of Empire (2019). LCMW series.pdf

This paper explores the archival afterlives of photographs of the facially injured and disfigured ex-servicemen of the Great War, focusing on the prolific records of reconstructive surgery and aftercare in military hospitals. From the scientific quest to record and understand these wounds and their treatment, to soldiers’ post-war reintegration, the photographs have struggled to shed the conditions of their making as specimen and records of surgical technique. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, partly to safeguard them in the public’s interest, such collections were transferred from Army museums to better-resourced institutions. Their move away from closed holdings within a military-medical context, made them more widely accessible. This talk explores how these photographs have been repurposed in archival space, where they seldom serve as mere surgical documents. Over time, these remediated images have been reclaimed by descendants of patients into a kind of ‘redemptive power of domestic love’, in an effort to welcome loved ones back in a relationship with kin or friends and away from their dehumanised portrayal in clinical settings. Retooling surgical photographs of disfigured soldiers as ancestors, these remediations embrace an expanded range of collections whose family practices and archives will always confound the reduction of that person to only a medical subject, an institutional object. Contact name: Patrizia Di Bello

Birkbeck Geography in collaboration with the Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race and Decolonising the Curriculum at Birkbeck invite you to a panel discussion on institutionalised racism in Britain in the wake of Meghan Markle’s recent exit from these shores.  Join us as four Black academics at the cutting edge of analysis on issues of race, gender, religion, culture and education, look beyond the superficial media debates to engage in a dialogue about the structural nature of racialised inequality in Britain and what the ‘Meghan effect’ tells us about its resurgence in 21st Century Britain.  For tickets please visit the eventbrite page to book yourself a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/megxit-and-racism-in-britain-tickets-92341861995 Panellists Chair Lurraine Jones  Senior Lecturer and Acting Head of Department for Social Sciences and Social Work at UEL- specialist in issues of race within diversity training, Black British Identities and intersectionality. Dr William Ackah Lecturer in Community and Voluntary Sector Studies, Birkbeck, University of London- specialist in issues of African diaspora religion and politics, race and urban policy.  Professor Anthony Reddie recently appointed Director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture. Dr Gabriella Beckles-Raymond Senior Lecturer, Womanist Philosopher- specialist in issues of critical race theory, intersectionality and ethics Rachel C. Boyle – Senior Lecturer in Children, Education and Communities Edge Hill University – specialist in issues of race, racism and ethnicity in education Contact name: Connor Hulme

Book your place now Join Jasdeep Thandi, Anytime Fitness, and Nick Sacks, NFL UK, discuss their collaboration on the marketing campaign, “Making Healthy Happen.   Please note this event is for Birkbeck students only.   Contact name: Sean Hamil

Book your place now "I remember once hearing a young male student describe the structure of his play.  He said, "Well, first it starts out, then it speeds up, and it's going and it's going, and then bam, it's over."  And I thought, ‘Do we think the arc is a natural structure because of the structure of the male orgasm?" From Sarah Ruhl’s ‘100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write’   How might the queering of dramaturgical practice serve to challenge common cultural assumptions about how we tell our stories? Who in our contemporary context has the opportunity to share their stories onstage and why? To what extent can dramaturgy as a discipline help us confront outdated concepts about the role theatre and performance play in our perceptions of ourselves? These are among the questions at the centre of our upcoming panel discussion ‘Dramaturgy as an act of civil disobedience’, hosted by Birkbeck’s Centre for Contemporary Theatre (BCCT). Dramaturgy in the twenty-first century is a discipline that can take a myriad of forms. From script consultancy to audience engagement, dramaturgs help grow and support the work of contemporary theatre-makers from conception to production. In celebration of Birkbeck's new MA Dramaturgy now recruiting for October 2020, this event investigates the disruptive potential of dramaturgical practice in contemporary culture. It features presentations from three of London’s leading dramaturgs and theatre-makers followed by a Q&A moderated by Dr Molly Flynn, programme director of Birkbeck's new MA Dramaturgy. Together, the presentations and discussion will consider pathways between theory, practice, and civic engagement in contemporary UK theatre and explore the role of the dramaturg in the twenty-first-century theatre. The event seeks to reflect the ethos of Birkbeck’s new MA Dramaturgy programme as a space for the exploration of alternative approaches to performance analysis, in particular, those focused on process, polyphony, and political engagement, rather than heteronormative notions of narrative structure as so eloquently depicted in the epigraph above. The event also provides the perfect opportunity to find out more about the structure of the new MA Dramaturgy at Birkbeck, and offers those interested in entering the field of theatre-making the chance to speak to academic staff and find out more about the course. Attendance is free but booking is essential.   Contact name: Molly Flynn Further details: More information about this event …

The environmental emergency demands a total transformation of our culture. Museums and galleries are critical in instigating this new cultural discourse that responds to climate change, environmental emergency, and species extinction.  How can the museum and art world evolve to cultivate these conversations and create long-term thinking about our future, catalysing us into collective action, guiding us towards a new cultural paradigm, and interrogating the ethical, social and political implications of the Anthropocene? Museums are amongst the most environmentally conditioned spaces that we design: climate controlled vitrines inside climate controlled gallery spaces inside climate controlled buildings. How can we rethink the museum so that it not only minimises its own environmental impact, but so that it also embeds ecological thinking deeply into its design, display and discourse? This is a roundtable event, with speakers from London’s most high profile cultural institutions, including The Serpentine Gallery and the V&A East. They will debate the role of museums and art spaces in the environmental crisis, and discuss strategies both from a practical perspective - what real changes are being made to the way institutions are being designed and operated– and from a discourse perspective – through curatorial programming, research and educational outreach. This event is organised by Experimental Unit 13, led by Jessica Reynolds and Lily Jencks. Catherine Ince is Chief Curator of the V&A East Project as part of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which comprises a new O’Donnell &Tuomey Architects-designed museum and a new Collection Research Centre by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro. V&A East will open in 2023 as part of East Bank, a major new cultural and education district planned for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. She previously worked at the Barbican Art Gallery, where she curated 'The World of Charles and Ray Eames' (2015) and 'Bauhaus: Art As Life' (2012). She regularly contributes to books, journals and online media about twentieth century and contemporary visual and material culture, and has lectured widely in the United Kingdom and internationally. Lucia Pietroiusti is Curator of General Ecology at the Serpentine Galleries, London, as well as the curator of Sun & Sea (Marina), the Lithuanian Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, awarded by the Golden Lion. At Serpentine, Pietroiusti founded and curates the long-term ‘General Ecology’ project for Serpentine (2018-ongoing) dedicated to the implementation of ecological principles throughout all of the Galleries’ exhibitions and programmes. Recent projects include The Shape of a Circle in the Mind of a Fish series (with Filipa Ramos) and Microhabitable (with Fernando García-Dory). Forthcoming publications include More-than-Human, co-edited with Andrés Jaque and Marina Otero Verzier. Camilla Tham is Anthropocene Engagement Manager at the Natural History Museum in London. Her role is to raise awareness of the current state of the planet through engagement with the Museum’s collections and scientific research, and galvanise audiences to play a role in positive change for the future. She is currently working to establish a global network of museums, science centres and like-minded organisations who are committed to engaging audiences with the Anthropocene, and addressing what this means for humanity in terms of understanding the past, present and future of our planet. She previously led the Science Communication team at the Museum, delivering programmes such as the Friday night‘Lates’ and various face-to-face and digital forms of public engagement. Nick Merriman has been CEO of the Horniman since May 2018. He has refocused the organisation to take advantage of its position as the only museum in London where nature and culture can be seen together. Before that he was Director of the Manchester Museum, where he focused its mission on promoting understanding between cultures and working towards a sustainable world, and oversaw the refurbishment of most of the Museum’s permanent galleries. Previously Nick was Director of Museums and Collections, and Reader in Museum Studies, at University College London for eight years. The Horniman recently launched a Climate and Ecology Manifesto, outlining their platform for action to mitigate against the climate emergency by putting the environment at the heart of their mission, programming and collections.  Jessica Reynolds is a unit master of Experimental 13 at the AA. She is a director at London-based vPPR Architects, which investigates the continual crossover between art and architecture in residential and cultural projects. She is a founder of the Architecture Exchange, a platform that fosters debate between architecture and philosophy. She studied at Cambridge University and Princeton University. Lily Jencks is a unit master of Experimental 13 at the AA. She is the founder of JencksSquared and LilyJencksStudio, which looks at how content-driven forms can create strong identities for meaningful public interaction through architecture, landscape and interior projects in the UK and abroad. She studied at Columbia University and holds a master’s degree in Architecture and Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Image: Reflections of the Natural History Museum, by Lily Jencks

Abstract This paper concern the mining of coal in Meghalaya, a small hill state in the north-eastern region of India. The extractive industries are largely in the hands of the indigenous elite, who have been able to accumulate massive wealth and, along with it, secure political power in the state. Pollution of water bodies and health hazards and risks for the mining labourers have pushed the Supreme Court to intervene and put a moratorium on the extraction of coal. This intervention divides the indigenous community: criticized by some as a violation of indigenous sovereignty and welcomed by others who take it as an invitation to build a sustainable future outside neoliberal extractivism. Women have been in the forefront of the anti-mining campaign, and the paper begin by narrating a recent event where two leading female activists were brutally attacked and left to die in a forest. An additional provocation with the anti-mining activists is that some of them also been outspoken against the attempt by male leaders to amend the traditional matrilineal kinship system and prevent indigenous women from marrying outsiders. As I will argue, in the combined protests one can detect what Ghassan Hage calls “alter-politics”, the contours of something radically different in the making.  

AA Director, Eva Franch i Gilabert, will give the State of the Association presentation to the School Community. It will be relayed to the Barrel Vault, AA Restaurant and Hooke Park. Only open to the School Community

Dr Loretta Lou (LSE) ‘The Closet Vegetarians: Sociality of Vegetarianism in a Chinese Society’

Abstract In this paper I explore the relationship between religion and morality. Mindful that the idea of the shari‘a is essential to Muslim tradition, and that this tradition is a guiding factor in Muslim life, I begin with an overview of how the shari‘a has been thought about in innovative ways. A contemporary case study illustrates how interpreting the shari‘a through a juridical lens can often belie the Qur’anic mandate to respect human dignity. I argue that the shari‘a must be properly understood as an ethical paradigm, as it once was.

Book your place now Dr Carmen Mangion on her new book which investigates the experiences of nuns and sisters in Britain from 1945 to 1990. Followed by a drinks reception.  Catholic Nuns and Sisters in a Catholic Age: Britain 1945 - 90 (Manchester University Press, 2020) centres on events in the 1960s, particular the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). It importantly considers pre and post Vatican II social, cultural and religious events as influencers in these changes.  Drawing on archival sources and interviews with eighty nuns and sisters, it interrogates ‘lived experience’ by examining the day to day lives of women religious and uses social and cultural history methodologies to frame Vatican II as a social movement of the sixties, but like other social movements with a significant pre-history and afterlife.  It interrogates a range of themes, including youth culture, participatory democracy, the ‘turn to self’, post-war modernity, the voluntary sector and the women’s movement.  This event is part of Birkbeck's Discover the Past series. To see the full list of events, visit the Discover the Past web page. The Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck has a distinguished tradition as an international centre of excellence. We are the only university department in London to include archaeologists, classicists and historians investigating every period from prehistory to the early twenty-first century. Join us to discover the past and engage with the present across continents and cultures. Photographs may be taken at this event for future use in printed and online publicity, and social media. Contact name: Department of History, Classics and Archaeology

Book your place now The School of Law is honoured to be hosting the first London launch of Behrouz Boochani’s multi-award winning book No Friend But The Mountains (Picador). No Friend But the Mountains gives an intimate and insightful account of everyday life in Australia’s notorious prison for refugees and asylum-seekers on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, where Boochani was detained from 2013 until its closure in 2017. Without regular access to a computer in detention, Boochani wrote the book by sending WhatsApp messages to his translator. The book is a stunning act of survival and resistance. Join us for a panel discussion with Behrouz Boochani (via Skype), his translator Omid Tofighian, and Sarah Keenan, Nadine El-Enany, Monish Bhatia, and Stewart Motha (Birkbeck) as they discuss the book, its intellectual and political contribution and its pedagogical power. The event will be chaired by Daniel Trilling, author of Lights In The Distance: Exile and Refuge At The Borders of Europe, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing.   This event is open to the public and free to attend however booking is required via this page. We kindly request that if you are unable to attend that you cancel your booking in order to allow others to attend. Latecomers to the event are not guaranteed entry. Please be advised that photographs may be taken at the event. Please contact us if you have any access requirements. See here for further details of accessibility at Birkbeck venues. Food and drink may be served at this event. Please contact us if you have any allergies that we may need to consider. Contact name: School of Law

Hizky Shoham (Bar Ilan) discusses how the Hebrew word Shoah became a widely-used term for the genocide of Europe’s Jews during the Second World War. Organised by the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism in association with the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck. To book, email pearsinstitute@bbk.ac.uk. The Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck has a distinguished tradition as an international centre of excellence. We are the only university department in London to include archaeologists, classicists and historians investigating every period from prehistory to the early twenty-first century. Join us to discover the past and engage with the present across continents and cultures. To see the full list of events in Birkbeck's Discover the Past series, visit the Discover the Past web page.  Photographs may be taken at this event for future use in printed and online publicity, and social media. Contact name: Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism

An ethnographic study of how financial products and services affect inequalities and conflicts in South Africa. Set in one of the world’s most unequal and violent places, this ethnographic study reveals how insurance companies discovered a vast market of predominantly poor African clients. After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa became a ‘testing ground’ for new insurance products, new marketing techniques and pioneering administrative models with a potentially global market.

This session is aimed at people who would like to learn about our biographical, family history and London digital resources.

In my 2018 book The New Enclosure, I examined the UK privatisation that previously nobody knew about: the privatisation of public land. Since the beginning of the 1980s, land equating to roughly 10 percent of Britain by area and worth in today’s prices somewhere in the region of £400 billion has been sold by the state – on dubious grounds and with calamitous consequences. In this talk, I will recap the main arguments of the book. But I will also endeavor to peer beyond the particular place (Britain) and time (the past 40 years) with which the book is preoccupied: to other parts of the world, where land is also being widely privatised, or where its potential privatisation is frequently mooted; and to the future, which, more than anything else, will be the age of climate change, an issue that it is impossible to think meaningfully about except in relation to land, its use, and its ownership. Brett Christophers is Professor of Human Geography at Uppsala University, Sweden, and the author of several books. Rentier Capitalism is forthcoming with Verso in 2020.

This seminar will examine artists' reactions to the evolving regional landscape in 20th-century Khaleeji art. The Gulf region has experienced an ongoing modernisation process enhanced by wealth acquired from the cultivation of oil. This wealth has enabled an unprecedented building boom in the growing Gulf capitals and rural landscapes. Artist responses include practices focused on the landscape, demonstrating a concern for the environment, for foreign labourers and for the question of ownership over evolving public spaces. Both modern and contemporary examples will be discussed, including practices of land art, performance art and new media as well as painting practices preceding the establishment of Gulf nation states. Landscape art collectives such as the Qatari based ‘Three Friends’, the Bahraini based ‘Manama Group’, as well as landscape practices by artists from Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

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