Written by Candice Maharaj Image: Melton Prior, Carnival in Port of Spain Trinidad, 1888, Illustrated London News. Carnival is a festival that is celebrated annually during the weeks leading up to Lent. It is a period of celebration that involves music, costumes, processions, feasting and a lot of alcohol. Traditionally, during Lent people had to abstain from…
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Celebrating Twenty Years of the Human Rights Act 1998
Written by Candice Maharaj Friday 9 November 2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). The Act incorporates the content of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law. Additionally, the Act makes it unlawful for public bodies to act in a way that is incompatible with the ECHR; it requires courts…
Searching for Meaning in the Political Bubble: Donald Trump and Maurice Cowling
Written by Luke Neill Much has been written about the daily routine of Donald Trump. In particular, after the recent release of various White House documents regarding his lists of meetings and appointments, this has revolved largely around the several hours of ‘executive time’ that Trump has each day. What is ‘executive time’? If you…
Research Seminar Review of ‘The Cartel: A model for socio-political organization in Archaic Greece’
Written by Lisa Doyle This lecture by Professor Gunnar Seelentag took place on 17 October 2018. In what was quite an information-heavy presentation, Professor Seelentag informed us of his objective to understand the emergence and development of political institutions in seventh and sixth centuries BC, and the role the dynamics of competitive behaviour played in…
Review of ‘On Five Dollars a Day’ by James W. MacNutt
Written by Toby Gay Rather like the 1957 guidebook with which the work shares its name, James W. MacNutt’s On Five Dollars A Day can be appreciated for being an exceptionally precise and intimate tool with which to explore over 20 European cities, albeit instead of the work of fiction it presents itself to be.…
Review: ‘Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents’ Series 1, Episode 1
Written by Martha Stutchbury Image: Isaac Oliver, The Rainbow Portrait, (c.1600), http://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/article/isaac_olivers_rainbow_portrait_of_queen_elizabeth_i_c.1600, Accessed 04/11/2018 BBC’S Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents aired this month for the first time since its 2017 debut and provides fascinating insight into the meaning behind Isaac Oliver’s famous portrait of the Virgin Queen, which shows her majesty’s garments adorned with eyes and ears, in a…
An invisible historical landscape: Barcelona’s Civil War tours
Written by Josh Newmark Image: Albggt, Placa de Catalunya, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/574068283732608796/, 04/11/2018 In a country which is often described as suffering from ‘historical amnesia’ towards its Civil War and subsequent dictatorship, Civil War tours of Barcelona bring history to life where it is otherwise inapparent. For those intrigued by the Spanish Civil War, the lack of much museum space…
