Here we are, cuppa in hand, excited as ever for another week of thrilling interdisciplinary and, some would say, transdisciplinary events. Needless to mention, our job isn’t getting any easier! Though we originally started with the five top events within SAS, we are now including some of our favourite events across London. Yes, we have had a near meltdown as all the events are too good and choosing is hard, but we hope you enjoy those events as much as last week’s. Are we sad that Being Human Festival has come to an end? You bet! If you were unable to attend some of them or you just want a snapshot, make sure to look out for some of our reviews. You can also find recordings of some of the events here.

Don’t see anything you like? Here’s a list of all the events across the institutes for this week.

Are you lonesome tonight? Nocturnal Solitude in Greek Culture – ICS

Monday 23rd November 2020, 17.00 – 18.30, Book Here

This Monday we are kicking off our week with an event kindly facilitated by the Institute of Classical Studies. Fine, we will admit that the word “solitude” is a bit triggering for us as it mainly characterizes the experience of a lockdown. However, we’re also quite certain the classical Greek definition of solitude might be quite different from the one that we are thinking of; it also might be much more hopeful. Join Prof Angelos Chaniotis (Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton) in a discussion about perceptions of solitude and loneliness in the Hellenistic world.

Theorizing Crisis Imaginaries, IMLR

Tuesday 24th November 2020, 15.30 – 18.00, Book Here

We know, we know, we have been promoting a great deal of Covid-19 events, but this is a different sort of event altogether. This workshop will investigate “the social, political, and historical functions of crisis narrations from interdisciplinary perspectives.” It will reimagine and compare; it will explore and hypothesize about the future, looking back on a long history of crises, pandemic and otherwise. Not only will it contextualise the present, it will also reconsider the ways in which crises are being normalized through different narratives and modes of representation.

What’s Happening in Black British History Workshop – ICwS

Wednesday 25th November 2020, 11.30 – 18.00, Book Here

Join three exhilarating and visionary panels on Black British History. From rethinking museums and the processes of decolonising them to decolonising the digital archive itself to contemporary art and culture and the ways truth and representation in British galleries function, this workshop will provide an eye-opening consideration of social and cultural biases and the ways the past continues to influence and prejudice the present.

Greening London: the impact of the crisis of the Second World War on the open spaces in the capital – IHR

Thursday 26th November, 18.00 – 20.30, Book Here

We just had to include an event that has to do with London and the ways it was shaped by many different historical events; not just any London either, but the London of World War II, which follows up nicely with last week’s review of IMLR’s On the Trail of 1930s Refugees in Bloomsbury. This week, Dr Katrina Navickas will be exploring London as it was known after the war; she will discuss “the lesser-known discussions and ideas on how to reconstruct and use the capital following the catastrophic impact of war, including debates about housing estates, children’s playgrounds, and bombed sites.” A chilling conversation which will certainly include green spaces in London that we have all been in.

Facing the Anthropocene in Latin America: Stories, Agencies, and Institutions – ILAS

Friday 27th November 2020, 15.30 – 17.00, Book Here

We are closing this week with a discussion about the construction of stories, agencies, and institutions in Latin America. The modern history of Latin America is vastly that of exploitation and marginalization. “Latin America has been one of the world’s most harshly exploited regions in modern times," is noted on the events' website. "The extraction of its riches, especially the mineral ones, have arguably played a fundamental role in the rise of the capitalist world-system”. This discussion will, therefore, explore the ways in which peripheral people narrate living in Latin America. Particularly, “[t]his one-day workshop will explore the links between narratives of the Anthropocene and the shaping of institutions and policies in Latin America, with an emphasis on the experience of marginalised social groups, such as indigenous peoples, campesinos and social movements.”

Bonus Events

TV fiction or reality, can we really determine someone’s physical characteristics from a DNA sample? – King’s College London

Monday 23rd November 2020, 10.00 – 11.00, Book Here

If you are anything like us and you love crime fiction and crime tv dramas, King’s College has got your back! Have you ever wondered whether there is any truth to the idea that a mere drop of blood can predict what the culprit of a crime looked like? Join Dr David Balard’s discussion to find out!

Defining Diversity Through Lived Experience – UCL

Wednesday 25th November 2020, 18.00 – 19.30, Book Here

We thought that we had covered good ground with the representation of different disciplines in our Weekly Favourites and yet we were wrong! When we saw this event on architecture and diversity, we almost squealed. It isn’t an exaggeration, yes, we are that excitable. Still, this is a very important conversation not only about the state of the architectural profession, but also about the ways in which tensions exist in relation to challenging the status quo as well as authoritative voices and canonical approaches. “Through the varying notions on diversity reflected in the experiences of these practitioners and educators, generic and abstract categories of thought emerge as complex and unresolved. It is through this ‘complexity’ that this event hopes to provoke fresh and productive ways to explore diversity.”

The Queen Mary Comparative Literature Forum 2020, featuring Momtaza Mehri, Stephen Watts, and Belinda Zhawi – Queen Mary University of London

Thursday, 26th November 2020, 17.30 – 20.00, Book Here

Of course, we couldn’t leave you without our weekly dose of the arts! Though normally, our conversations in relation to literature, history of art, and indeed history are retrospective, concerned with the past and the ripples it has on the present, this is a decidedly topical event with poetry fresh out of the minds of original and innovative contemporary creative voices.

“This event will bring together three London-based poets, critics and translators for a discussion about multilingual diasporic poetries in London, exploring how local accents and mother tongues interact in writing and spoken word. Where, how and under what circumstances does multilingual poetry in London flourish? What role does it play for the many diasporic communities which make up London’s rich literary culture? And what role do translators, researchers and editors play in its creation and transmission? The speakers will be invited to reflect on these questions and their own critical practice, read from their work, and talk about the diasporic poetries which are important to them.”