Author: Doing History in Public

  • How do historians write?

    How do historians write?

    By Tom Goodwin, @tgooders Thomas is an MPhil student in Early Modern History. He is currently researching sixteenth-century Italian heretics and their use of the printing press. I spent the morning putting in a comma; I spent the afternoon taking it out – Oscar Wilde Writing history remains something of a dark art. From the…

  • Cheating for Love. Notes on “Notes on camp”

    Cheating for Love. Notes on “Notes on camp”

    by Federica Tammarazio Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy Pentesilea.org For LGBT History month, we are happy to host art historian Federica Tammarazio to celebrate the anniversary of “Notes on camp” by Susan Sontag. Fifty years ago (fifty-one actually) art critic Susan Sontag published “Notes on camp“, a series of reflections on Camp culture. According…

  • Love Story or Western? Ducal marriage in Normandy

    Love Story or Western? Ducal marriage in Normandy

    By Fraser McNair Fraser is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of History. His thesis is entitled ‘The development of territorial principalities between the Loire and the Scheldt, 893-99′. Ah, Valentine’s Day. You know, while the day has some bad press, I personally appreciate the opportunity to indulge in some soppiness and sentimentality. And what could be more…

  • Some reflections on Charlie Hebdo

    Some reflections on Charlie Hebdo

    By Hira Amin 9/11 is often cited as a watershed moment in contemporary history. The pervasive narrative was that these extremists hated Western freedom and democracy and Islam is an inherently violent and dangerous religion. In the wake of the brutal Charlie Hebdo attacks, one of the most striking features of the coverage was simply…

  • Homosexuality in the ‘Enlightenment’?

    Homosexuality in the ‘Enlightenment’?

    By Nailya Shamgunova Nailya is working on European conceptualisations of sexual diversity in South East Asia and Japan in the 17th century. France was the first European state to repeal its sodomy laws as far back as 1791. The event, which is now hailed by LGBTQ+ groups as a landmark, at first glance seems like a…