The event is the latest in a series of regular Question Time-style debates on topical subjects as part of Leicester Exchanges.
The panel for this latest debate, hosted in the city where Richard III’s remains were found after five centuries, will consist of Phil Stone, chairman of the Richard III Society; Paul Lay, editor of History Today magazine; and Dr Mary Ann Lund, of our School of English.
The experts will debate whether Richard III was as evil as the nephew-murdering madman depicted in Shakespeare’s play – or whether he was in fact a victim of malicious Tudor propaganda.
The debate is open to the public – and audience members will play a key part in the debate. It will be held at the Peter Williams lecture theatre, University of Leicester, on Thursday, June 6 from 6.30 to 8pm. Book your free ticket online.
Click here to listen and download our Richard III podcasts:
]]>The exhibition focuses on the power of propaganda and Dr Graham’s views and comments are incorporated into a ‘video talking head’ feature, in the health section of the exhibition, based on her expertise on AIDS awareness campaigns in the 1980s.
Dr Graham will also be speaking about representations of AIDS at a study day for the general public at the British Library on 1 June.
To find out more about the exhibition “Propaganda: Power and Persuasion” visit here.
]]>Highlights from its Richard III Open Day on Saturday 29 June include talks from experts Professor Lin Foxhall, Head of our School of Archaeology and Ancient History, geneticist Dr Turi King, forensic engineering expert Professor Sarah Hainsworth, Renaissance literature scholar Dr Sarah Knight, and Dr Tracey Elliott of the School of Law.
There will also be drop-in sessions to the Department of Genetics and School of Archaeology and Ancient History, where guests will be able to participate in workshops, displays and demos.
The events are also part of this year’s Summer Reunion Open Day, held annually for graduates of the University both across the UK and worldwide.
There will also be a BBQ on the main campus, drinks in the 1923 Restaurant and children’s activities.
To book your place and for more information about the Richard III Open Day – which is open to the general public – visit here.
The Search for Richard III was led by the University of Leicester, working with Leicester City Council, and in association with the Richard III Society.
]]>The lecture engages with the neglected topic of the relationship between the poet and politician Andrew Marvell and the Royal Society.
Marvell has long been considered one of the foremost metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century, but Professor Dzelzainis is to question what his works may owe the burgeoning scientific community of the Restoration. He will also examine how the establishment of the Royal Society in 1660 may have influenced Marvell’s poetry and prose.
'"...a Garden of venimous Plants": Andrew Marvell and Science' will be held in the Ken Edwards Building, Lecture Theatre 1, at 5:30pm on Tuesday 7 May 2013.
The lecture is free and open to the public. More information can be found here.
]]>The day will feature a string of public events with a stellar guest list of authors, poets and academics.
Award-winning poet Daljit Nagra (pictured) and shortlisted Man Booker novelist Alison Moore will be among those speaking at the Centre’s launch. View the full itinerary here.
A panel discussion will kick off proceedings at 3:30pm in the University’s Charles Wilson Building, followed by a lecture and reading by Nagra at 6:30pm in the Peter Williams Lecture Theatre.
Nagra won the 2007 Forward Prize, the 2008 South Bank Show/Arts Council Decibel Award, and was shortlisted in 2013 for the TS Eliot Prize.
The day will also include a coffee and book signing session, and there will be a wine reception in the evening.
For further information about the event visit the Centre for New Writing’s website here.
]]>John Siddique, a Creative Writing Fellow in the University’s School of English and acclaimed poet, will deliver a public reading and a talk on his work and love for literature.
Prior to Siddique’s talk, Ben Okri, a Visiting Professor in the School of English and one of the world’s most celebrated living writers, will be offering a free writing master class for the staff and students of the University of Leicester.
Some of his best-selling work includes Of Recital — An Almanac, Poems From A Northern Soul, The Prize and Full Blood. He has been nominated for the Forward Prize and was shortlisted for the CLPE Poetry Award.
Ben Okri’s free master class is available for University of Leicester staff and students only and is not open to the public. It will be held Attenborough 001 3:30-4:30pm on Tuesday 30 April.
John Siddique’s public reading will be held in the Ogden Lewis Suite in Fielding Johnson South Wing on Tuesday 30 April from 6:30 - 8:30pm, and is free and open to all.
For further details, contact: Dr Harry Whitehead at hdw5@le.ac.uk
]]>Dr Mary Ann Lund, (pictured) who has a special interest in medicine in history, says some of the treatments for scoliosis practised in the late medieval period would have themselves caused people with the condition a lot of anguish.
The remains of Richard III discovered by University of Leicester archaeologists revealed that the King suffered from severe scoliosis, which he probably developed in early adolescence. Scoliosis – a lateral or side-to-side curvature of the spine – can be a very painful condition to live with.
Among the “cures” practised was traction – the same principle on which “the Rack” worked as an instrument of torture.
The patient would be tied under the armpits and round the legs. The ropes were then pulled at either end, often on a wooden roller, to stretch the patient’s spine.
The treatment would probably have only been available to those who could afford it.
Dr Lund charted the influence of Greek philosopher Hippocrates – who developed early prototype methods of dealing with spinal disorders – to the 11th century Persian polymath Avicenna.
Avicenna’s treatises on medicine and philosophy were highly regarded in Medieval Europe. His theories on using traction in scoliosis treatment would have been widely read and practised by doctors in Richard III’s lifetime.
Avicenna also advocated the massage techniques practised in Turkish baths, and herbal applications, as treatments for back disorders. In the longer term, patients might wear a long piece of wood or metal in an attempt to straighten their back.
You can hear more from Dr Sarah Knight and Dr Mary Ann Lund in our podcast below.
Catch an interview with Dr Lund in LiveScience here