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Academic’s work on the 'early modern state' translated into German
‘Luther’s Legacy’, the latest book by Robert von Friedeburg, Reader in History at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), on the nature of the Early Modern State in Germany has been selected for translation into German by the Max Planck Institute for Legal History in Frankfurt. First published by Cambridge University Press in 2016 ‘Luther’s Legacy’ examines how the modern notion of state does not rest on the experience of a bureaucratic state-apparatus. It emerged to stabilize monarchy from dynastic insecurity and constrain it to protect the rule of law, subjects, and their lives and property. Against this background, Lutheran and neo-Aristotelian notions on the spiritual and material welfare of subjects dominating German debate interacted with Western European arguments against 'despotism' to protect the lives and property of subjects. The combined result of this interaction under the impact of the Thirty Years War was Seckendorff's Der Deutsche Fürstenstaat (1656), constraining the evil machinations of princes and organizing the detailed administration of life in the tradition of German Policey, and which founded a specifically German notion of the modern state as comprehensive provision of services to its subjects. The original publication has been praised for its “major intervention” and “new way of thinking” and the new translation will be published on November 1. Friedeburg has also been invited to Germany, to the University of Bielefeld, to talk about his book on October 17. Earlier invitations had been to the German Historical Institute in London and to Georgetown University. If you would be interested in joining these discussions visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team for more information on our wide range courses including a selection of joint honours BA History degrees, our MA in Social & Cultural History and our BA (Hons) in Military History. -
Pioneering Women of Lincolnshire’s Suffrage Movement Brought to Life in New Article by BGU Graduate
Elaine Johnson, recent graduate on the MA in Social & Cultural History course and now Visiting Tutor at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), has had her research published in the latest issue of East Midlands History & Heritage magazine. Elaine’s article, 'Perspectives from the provincial press: A Lincolnshire view of women’s suffrage', explores the role of Lincolnshire women in the suffrage movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: “I originally started my research when involved in the Vote100 activities organised at BGU last year. I was fascinated by the stories and histories that I uncovered and was keen to share them. The positive response I’ve received to the article has been very rewarding and it was especially flattering to be contacted by the Lincoln Mayor’s Officer who asked to have several copies for council members, as the article explores some of the history of the City’s first female mayor”. Elaine, currently a visiting tutor delivering an undergraduate module on local history at BGU, graduated from the MA in Social & Cultural History course last year and feels that her time on the course was key in preparing her for producing independent research of a publishable quality: “The high standard of teaching and training on the MA in Social and Cultural History prepared me well for subsequent part-time employment as an historical researcher and speaker. During the course, the flexibility of the assignment briefs within each of the modules enabled me to develop personal research interests, supported by experienced, professional guidance from the tutors.” Speaking following the article’s publication Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall, Programme Leader for Military History and History Postgraduate Study at BGU, praised Elaine’s achievements along with the skills she crafted as a BGU student: “This publication is a fantastic achievement as Elaine has managed to successfully carve her research path, exploring the lives of Lincolnshire women, from the female trainee teachers of Lincoln Diocesan Training College for School Mistresses to the Lincolnshire lassies who fought for female suffrage. Undertaking a master’s degree builds on essential skills such as time management, self-discipline and those all-important independent research skills. Students are challenged by the postgraduate learning environment, and Elaine is an excellent example of how our students train for independent research.” You can read Elaine’s full article here (www.eastmidlandshistory.org.uk/magazine-issue-9/) or by picking up a copy of East Midlands History & Heritage from the BGU Library or History department. The MA in Social & Cultural History at BGU offers postgraduates the opportunity to acquire a specialism, deepening their knowledge of social and cultural history. BGU students are trained to mine the historical records in new and novel ways so that they can appreciate, for example, what it was like to walk in the shoes of those who lived during the Victorian period or contributed to the war effort during both world wars. If you are interested in studying history at BGU, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team for more information on both the MA in Social & Cultural History and our further range of history courses including BA (Hons) in History a selection of joint honours BA History degrees and our new BA (Hons) in Military History. -
BG Futures Aim to Help Students Find Their Entrepreneurial Excellence in Global Entrepreneurship Week
Global Entrepreneurship Week (#GEW2019), the world’s largest campaign to promote entrepreneurship, began on the 18th of November and to celebrate BG Futures, the Careers, Employability and Enterprise team at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), are running a series of events to encourage the University’s future business leaders. With sessions on global business, ‘enterprising attitudes’, how to begin self-employment and accountancy advice the team hope to provide budding entrepreneurs with the skills they need to begin their businesses. And the drive to foster entrepreneurial successes at BGU is not limited purely to Global Entrepreneurship Week as Sarah Moseley, the team’s newly appointed Enterprise Development Manager, explains: “When universities foster a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship, it equips students with the skills for a rewarding, self-determined professional and personal life With a career history working with SMEs I hope to bring to life, in a sustainable manner, our student’s enterprising ideas It is no coincidence that we have launched our Graduate Attributes excellence award in GEW and all the activities that we are offering students as part of GEW will count towards the award.” To find out more about the Graduate Attributes Excellence award or advice on how to start your entrepreneurial journey you drop into BG Futures, email bgfutures@bishopg.ac.uk or call them on 01522 583900. -
What it means to be human explored in new publication
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) recently celebrated the release of a significant publication that aims to bring a new understanding of what it means to be human. -
Support your students’ learning and give them a taste of Higher Education with an NEA Day at BGU
A-Level History students and teachers from Kings School, Grantham, and Ridgewood School, Doncaster, became the latest learners to benefit from a Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) Day at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) as they spent a day with academics from the BGU History department. -
Science, Faith and the Climate Crisis: BGU Staff and Students Support New Collaborative Project
Staff and a final year student have contributed to an international project exploring why science and faith must work together on climate crisis. -
Exploring the role of the Arts in supporting children and families through loss
Thomasin Nicholds, Psychology Lecturer at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), shares an exploration carried out in an experiential workshop at the recent Death and Dying Conference -
How long do influenza pandemics normally last?
Dr Andrew Jackson, Head of Research at BGU, has published a series of articles exploring how the current circumstances in which we find ourselves offer a window into the history of both Lincoln and the wider United Kingdom*. In the third of these he explores what we can learn from previous influenza pandemics. -
How government health advice has, or hasn’t, changed in the last 100 years
Dr Andrew Jackson, Head of Research at BGU, has published a series of articles exploring how the current circumstances in which we find ourselves offer a window into the history of both Lincoln and the wider United Kingdom*. In the second of these he examines how government health advice has, or in this case hasn’t, changed in the last 100 years. -
Why adults shouldn't rule out children's book from their reading lists
As the country, along with the rest of the world, settles into the possible new normal of social distancing and working from home many are beginning to plan out long lists of exciting potential reads to keep them occupied. These may be well loved classics or unknown literary adventures but the likelihood is that they will be books designed for adults. However, as Dr Mary-Louise Maynes, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) and one of the academics on the new MA in Children’s Literature and Literacies, explains adults shouldn’t be ashamed to include some children’s books in their choices too. On reading children’s books (as an adult) Browsing the adult fiction shelves of Waterstones recently I noticed that the Harry Potter books have yet another new cover without any sign of the boy wizard. This is presumably so that you can read the books on the train without looking silly: without looking as if you are reading a children’s book. Adults read children’s books, but still, it seems, reading them makes many of us rather uncomfortable. As we launch our MA in Children’s Literature and Literacies here at Bishop Grosseteste University, I want to explain why I read children’s books and why I think more adults should too, and not apologise for doing so. They are good ‘reads’… Children’s authors know that children are exacting critics. Junior-aged children in particular (generally) enjoy books which are plot-driven, gripping and engaging from the start, well-paced, and which use cliff-hangers at the end of chapters to make you want to read on. If you want to lose yourself in a thrilling story or a page-turning adventure look no further than a good children’s book such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick, 2007) or The Explorer (Rundell, 2018). In literary terms to describe a text as plot-driven often implies a lack of depth and quality, a criticism often levelled, unfairly, at children’s literature as a whole. Many children’s books present examples of beautiful and lyrical writing where there is much to explore below the surface and which invite re-reading. Take for example the slow, ‘outsider’ reflections of the Fox in Pennypacker and Klassen’s Pax (2017) or the haunting, puzzling and disturbing words and images in Shaun Tan’s The Red Tree (2010). They have pictures…. Children’s picture books, non-fiction and poetry will introduce you to the work of some of the most innovative and diverse artists and the images are every bit as important as the words. Children’s illustrators have distinct visual styles and employ a range of artistic techniques: contrast for example Beth Waters’ striking monoprints in A Child of St Kilda (2019) or Mark Hearld’s cut-out collages for Nicola Davies’ A First Book of Nature (2014). Images are not confined to bold colours and simple lines: Emily Sutton’s illustrations have a ‘retro’ feel harking back to the work of Edward Ardizzone and they are not at all twee or cosy: in contrast the images in Greder’s The Island (2008) are dark, gothic and threatening. They explain things…. Children’s books today cover almost all topics including some previously taboo ones (for example Poo, a Natural History of the Unmentionable, Davies, 2014) and present them in ways which are digestible and engaging starting-points for further investigation. The Theory of Relativity is beautifully introduced in Bearne and Radunsky’s On a Beam of light (2016) and astrophysics is presented very simply in Astrophysics for Babies (Ferris, 2018). What we learn from children’s books can often stick with us throughout life: in Everything I need to know I learned from a children’s book (2008) Anita Silvey interviews 100 ‘notable’ individuals who explain how children’s books influenced their thinking and later careers. Yet in contemporary children’s literature the ways in which information is imparted are rarely moralistic or heavy-handed, with enjoyment and engagement being primary motivators for reading so that the reader does not feel ‘talked at’ or instructed. They reawaken memories… Re-reading Alison Uttley’s wonderful A Traveller in Time (1939) recently, I was suddenly transported back to a mental image of the protagonist Penelope wearing a nightdress I wore as a child. I must have dressed her in the nightdress in my imagination and for a tiny moment I felt a connection with the person I was when I first read the book aged eight years old. Such connections are powerful if illusory: as Peter Hunt (1997) said as adults we can never really read as we did as a child. Re-reading reminds us of the difference of childhood and the ways in which our understanding of childhood changes as we grow older. Reading children’s books as adults we cannot help but be aware of the ways in which childhood is ‘socially constructed’. They offer insight about ourselves and our society since they are (usually) written by adults with adult perceptions of what childhood and children should be, and what children should be allowed to read or forbidden from reading. If, like me, you love reading children’s books, why not consider joining our MA Children’s Literature and Literacies, launching September 2020? Discover books that intrigue and move you: yes there are plenty of bunnies getting ready for bed, and wimpy kids writing diaries, but equally there are books which address the key issues of our time and which challenge and upset expectations, books which explore the range of human experience and which take us into worlds beyond our own. Dr Mary-Louise Maynes researches children’s non-fiction literature and will be teaching on the MA Children’s Literature and Literacies. She is a member of the Literature and Literacies RKEU. For more information please visit our children's literature courses pages.
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