October 2015 Lectures
The Maya - Masters of Time
13th October 2015
Professor Elizabeth Graham
The Mayan Civilisation of Central America created splendid art and architecture in the period 250- 900 AD. Less well-known are their developments of accurate time-keeping systems, mathematics, and writing.
What caused their civilisation to collapse, and have they really disappeared? Did they, like the Aztecs, practice ‘human sacrifice’? In this lecture, Professor Graham explores the richness of Maya life, its cultural continuity, and the Maya legacy today.
Elizabeth is Professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, and has directed several archaeological projects, most recently at Lamanai in northern Belize , and presently at Marco Gonzalez on Ambergris Caye, Belize’s largest Island, where her research focuses on the long-term environmental impact of Maya civilisation.
What caused their civilisation to collapse, and have they really disappeared? Did they, like the Aztecs, practice ‘human sacrifice’? In this lecture, Professor Graham explores the richness of Maya life, its cultural continuity, and the Maya legacy today.
Elizabeth is Professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, and has directed several archaeological projects, most recently at Lamanai in northern Belize , and presently at Marco Gonzalez on Ambergris Caye, Belize’s largest Island, where her research focuses on the long-term environmental impact of Maya civilisation.
Dance : Manners, Morals and Class.
A Social History of Dancing from the Renaissance to the Romantic Era
A Social History of Dancing from the Renaissance to the Romantic Era
20th October 2015
Jeremy Barlow
'Do not spit or blow your nose too much' advises a 16th century dance treatise.
From the mid-15th century onwards, descriptions of dances, their music, and expected behaviour and etiquette show the great importance of dance in people's lives. Jeremy’s lecture continues through the baroque era to the emergence of the waltz, which swept all the old court dances away; though not without moral censure of the lax behaviour it was supposed to have engendered.
After studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at the Royal Academy of Music, Jeremy worked mainly in the theatre as a musical director, flautist and composer, and at the BBC as a radio producer and broadcaster. His book ‘A Dance Through Time: Images of Western Social Dancing from the Middle Ages to Modern Times’, has just been published.
From the mid-15th century onwards, descriptions of dances, their music, and expected behaviour and etiquette show the great importance of dance in people's lives. Jeremy’s lecture continues through the baroque era to the emergence of the waltz, which swept all the old court dances away; though not without moral censure of the lax behaviour it was supposed to have engendered.
After studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at the Royal Academy of Music, Jeremy worked mainly in the theatre as a musical director, flautist and composer, and at the BBC as a radio producer and broadcaster. His book ‘A Dance Through Time: Images of Western Social Dancing from the Middle Ages to Modern Times’, has just been published.
Incendiary History: The Story of Fireworks
27th October 2015
Dr Simon Werrett
Dr. Werrett’s talk explores the history and development of pyrotechnics from the middle ages in China up to the present day. Illustrated with rich visual and audio materials, the talk will show how fireworks have had many functions in the past, serving not just as entertainment but for everything from political propaganda and tools for imperial conquest to inspiring new scientific theories and technologies like gas heating and electric lighting.
Dr. Simon Werrett is a science historian and a senior lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London. He has written numerous articles and essays on the history of fireworks and science and regularly appears on the radio to discuss pyrotechnic history. His book, Fireworks: Pyrotechnic Arts and Sciences in European History, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2010.
Dr. Simon Werrett is a science historian and a senior lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London. He has written numerous articles and essays on the history of fireworks and science and regularly appears on the radio to discuss pyrotechnic history. His book, Fireworks: Pyrotechnic Arts and Sciences in European History, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2010.
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