Was There History in the Middle Ages?

The UK national debt is currently the highest it's ever been, and a lot larger than many other countries. This talk takes a look behind the figures, and asks why it is important, whether we should be worried, and looks at the reasons for its growth.

Linda Yueh (Fellow by Special Election in Economics) talks about ending poverty. The UN has a Sustainable Development Goal to eradicate extreme poverty, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day, by 2030. Since 1990, 1 billion people have been lifted out of poverty. Linda argues that economic growth alone is insufficient to end poverty and discusses how economic theory may be able to help us solve the problem, particularly in Africa, to achieve the UN’s target.

Did medieval writers think they were writing history? This talk takes a closer look at the various forms of ‘history’ during this period. Emily A. Winkler is (John Cowdrey Junior Research Fellow in History).

When you examine the brain, you can learn a lot and see chemical interactions, but you cannot find anything about the first-person nature of things we experience as humans, such as colours and pain. This talk takes an introductory look at different philosophical theories relating to this – including dualism, epiphenomenalism, identity theory and externalism Paul Skokowski is Visiting Fellow from Stanford University.

Why has the recent detection of gravitational waves been one of the most important discoveries in modern times for astrophysics? And what are the implications of the new Advanced LIGO gravitational-wave detector for future discoveries about black holes? Philipp Podsiadlowski (Professor of Physics and Tutor in Physics)

Batteries are one of the most efficient ways to store energy, and there has been a massive increase recently in the use of lithium-ion batteries, particularly in electric cars. Do we have enough lithium, however, to support the wide-scale proliferation of electric vehicles? And are there alternative technologies we could adopt if not? Mauro Pasta is Associate Professor and Tutor in Materials Science

How do people remember the past? Alex Lloyd (Lecturer, German Language and Literature) looks at essays written by children in Germany after the Second World War–examining the words and tone; the political framing; and the challenges for translating them. The accounts are far from straight-forward, but offer an invaluable insight into the experiences of the children.

This talk focusses on a first edition of the collected works of Jan Hus, from the collection in St Edmund Hall’s Old Library, written in the fifteenth century but first printed in 1558 together with letters of recommendation from Martin Luther. This talk focusses on a first edition of the collected works of Jan Hus, from the collection in St Edmund Hall’s Old Library, written in the fifteenth century but first printed in 1558 together with letters of recommendation from Martin Luther. Henrike Lähnemann (Professor of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics) weaves together discussion of the book with the history of religious rebellion at the College, particularly alluding to Principal William Taylor who was condemned as a follower of Wycliffe and burned at the stake in 1423. She explains how the Old Library itself was founded in the name of reform.

Merchants’ marks were used initially as a tool of commerce, on consignments of goods, in the Middle Ages. In the sixteenth century, however, they became more like a coat of arms for people who didn’t have one – a form of professional identity. Medieval manuscripts also feature the marks used in this way, and Thomas Kittel (DPhil student, English Literature) argues that this is interesting because it shows us how medieval people understood their identity and how books (such as The Canterbury Tales) functioned in social exchanges.

An introduction to pulsars: objects that have more mass than the sun but are only around 20km in diameter, possessing an extremely high rotational stability and a very strong magnetic field. Aris Karastergiou (Physics Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow) describes them as “nature’s ticking clocks” and explains how the changing rate of ‘ticks’ can inform you about the movement of the ‘clocks’.