History Courses in Detail

HIS 01: BIOGRAPHIES

Co-ordinator: David Simmons                             
Day and time: Friday 10.45 - 12.15                      
Venue: Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane
Terms: Autumn, spring.                                       
Number of places: 22
If you enjoy biographies why not share this interest with others in a friendly group?  Each week a different member of the group introduces their chosen subject, the person’s life, or perhaps a particular aspect of it; their travels, discoveries, or other achievements.  The different areas of knowledge and points of view within the group usually ensure the talk is followed by a good question and discussion session.  Last year we covered a wide range of subjects including, T S Elliot, Alexander Selkirk, William Booth, and Oliver Sacks.

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HIS 02: BRITAIN'S RELATIONS WITH ITALY AND POLAND (SPRING TERM)

Tutor: Gerald Goldstone                                      
Day and time: Wednesday 10.15 - 11.30              
Terms: Spring.                                                    
Number of places: 15
We shall look at Britain’s relations with both Italy and Poland, mainly in the past two centuries but setting them in the widest historical context and considering cultural and economic issues as well as politics.

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HIS 03: CAMBRIDGE HISTORY AND THE WIDER CONTEXT (SPRING TERM)

Tutor: David Berkley                                           
Day and time: Thursday 11.00 - 1.00                   
Terms: Spring.                                                    
Number of places: 20
Week 1. Meet U3AC office: then Quayside, Bridge St, Round Church, Thos. Clarkson (St John’s College).
Week 2. Meet Round Church; then Old Div. School, Sidney Sussex, Great St Mary’s, The Eagle (Pub)
Week 3. Meet Great St Mary’s; Senate House Passage, Trinity Hall, King’s Chapel.
Week 4. Meet Trinity College; Trinity College and St John’s College.
Week 5. Meet Magdalene College; Magdalene College, Union Society, Jesus College.
Week 6. Meet Tourist Office; New Museum Site, Trumpington St, St Edwards Church and Holy Trinity Church
Week 7. Meet Emmanuel College; Emmanuel, Pembroke and Queens' Colleges.
Prior reading not necessary, but helpful to review video in Round Church before the course.  Notes will be distributed each week.
Note: Starts 19th January.

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HIS 04: CAMBRIDGE HISTORY AND THE WIDER CONTEXT (SUMMER TERM)

Tutor: David Berkley                                           
Day and time: Thursday 11.00 - 1.00                   
Terms: Summer.                                                 
Number of places: 20
Week 1.  Meet U3AC office;  Quayside, Bridge St, Round Church, Thos. Clarkson Statue.
Week 2.  Meet Tourist Office; New Museum Site, Trumpington St, St Bene'ts Church, Holy Trinity Church.
Week 3.  Meet Great St Mary’s; Senate House Passage, Kings Chapel ‘Eagle’ pub.
Week 4.  Meet Round Church; Old Div. School, Sidney Sussex, St Edward’s Church.
Week 5.  Meet Trinity College; Trinity College and St John’s College.
Week 6.  Meet Magdalene College; Magdalene College, Union Society, Jesus College.
Week 7.  Meet  Emmanuel College; Emmanuel, Pembroke and Queens' Colleges.
Prior reading not necessary, but helpful to review video in Round Church before the course.  Notes will be distributed each week.
Note: Starts 14th June.

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HIS 05: HISTORY FOR BEGINNERS
Tutors: Joan Wooding & Ed Munn
Day and time: Tuesday 10.30 - 12.00                  
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 10
This is a short course for members who would like to begin to trace their ancestors.  Joan will introduce the basic resources and will tell you how to access them in Cambridge without the use of a computer, Ed will lead 2 sessions at his house (half the group at a time) on using the Internet for family history research.  Sessions 15, 22, 29, November and 6, 13 December.

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HIS 06: THE GENESIS OF NEWFOUNDLAND, BERMUDA AND NEW ENGLAND 1583-1642. THE CAMBRIDGE CONNECTION

Lecturer: Tom Mor                                              
Day and time: Alternate Mondays 2.30 - 3.30       
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 40
5 slide lectures by Tom Mor, designer of the 267' New World Tapestry, meeting twice a month on the following dates:
Oct 17: The History of the New World Tapestry
Oct 31: Raleigh's Roanoke Adventures 1584-1588
Nov 14: Jamestown and Pocahontas 1607 - 1616
Nov 28: Winthrop, Cambridge and Harvard 1630-36
Dec 12: London Livery Co's Adventurers for Virginia

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HIS 07: THE GENESIS OF NEWFOUNDLAND, BERMUDA AND NEW ENGLAND 1583-1642. THE CAMBRIDGE CONNECTION (SPRING TERM)

Lecturer: Tom Mor                                              
Day and time: Alternate Mondays 2.00 - 3.00       
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Spring.                                                    
Number of places: 40
5 slide lectures by Tom Mor, designer of the 267' New World Tapestry, meeting twice a month on the following dates:
Jan 9: The History of the New World Tapestry
Jan 23: Raleigh's Roanoke Adventures 1584-1588
Feb 6: Jamestown and Pocahontas 1607 - 1616
Feb 20: Winthrop, Cambridge and Harvard 1630-36
Mar 5: London Livery Co's Adventurers for Virginia

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HIS 08: HERALDRY (SPRING TERM)

Tutor: Alan Turner                                              
Day and time: Tuesday 10.00 - 11.15                  
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Spring.                                                    
Number of places: 18
An introduction to this ancient craft with its beautiful designs, hidden meanings and strange language.  We will study the arms of the colleges and of some well-known people.  There will be handouts.

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HIS 09: A HISTORY OF SCOTLAND

Tutor: Lucy Munby                                              
Day and time: Thursday 10.45 - 12.00                 
Terms: Autumn, spring.                                       
Number of places: 9
In this course we shall start by studying medieval Scotland and end with devolution and the S.N.P.  In between, key topics include the war of independence with William Wallace and Robert the Bruce and the Reformation with the creation of the Presbyterian Kirk and its role during the life of Mary, Queen of Scots and the English Civil War.  The Jacobite Rebellions and their links to the Highland Clearances are important, but by the nineteenth century the industrial revolution is far more significant than highland chiefs or royalty.  For the twentieth century we shall look at the decline of heavy industry and the huge social changes accompanying this.  Scottish housing, health and education in the 19/20th centuries will be discussed where time permits.

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HIS 10: INTRIGUES IN THE LAND OF FIRE-TALES FROM TIERRA DEL FUEGO

Tutor: Graham Anthony                                       
Day and time: Thursday 4.00 - 5.00                     
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 40
With the threat from Islam contained in the Mediterranean, Catholic Portugal and Spain built innovative ships and began exploring the Oceans. They ventured Eastwards around Africa, and then in 1520 Magellan went Westwards.  By 1579, Francis Drake was plundering Spanish treasure from the Pacific. As the Industrial Revolution gained pace, the trade route around South America became increasingly important to Britain. The NW passage was frozen, and the Panama Canal did not open until 1914, so the Royal Navy sought to improve the safety of navigating around the Horn and through the Magellan Straits.
With rich mineral deposits and good pastures, the British and others were quick to exploit Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, giving rise to the four stories that will be told in this series.
This remote region with its harsh climate is divided between Chile and Argentina. The population is expanding, with tourism, access to Antarctica, oil prospecting, and defence, being the driving factors.
The four lectures.
1.  Magellan’s tough leadership to find his channel.  Magellan knew there was a channel from his study of Chinese charts
2. The thieving Yaghans went naked for 15,000 years. They had no political skills and soon succumbed to European diseases and genocide
3. ‘Sorely tried’- the story of HMS Beagle, Fitzroy, and Darwin. Discover the maritime aspects of this amazing voyage around the World
4. Christians massacred at the Woollya Mission. Disasters soon befell the Protestants eager to convert the local people to Christianity.
Note: 4 weeks only, starts 13th October.

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HIS 11: MEDIEVAL TIMES AND PEOPLE

Tutor: James Henry                                            
Day and time: Monday 12.15 - 1.45                     
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 16
This is a repeat of last year’s course and is an introductory course to the Middle Ages.  Things discussed will be the fall of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions, the medieval church, Charlemagne, and the Holy Roman Empire, the Vikings, Byzantium, Islam, the Crusades, the Norman Conquest and Feudalism.  The emphasis is on the early middle ages and the style is informal, with questions and discussion welcomed.

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HIS 12: MILITARY HISTORY

Leader: Ted Lachlan                                            
Day and time: Thursday 2.30 - 3.45                     
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.                         
Number of places: 40
The circle has enjoyed another interesting year, in which its members presented a wide range of topics covering all three armed services.  Members are encouraged to give a talk on any aspect of military history from any period – campaigns, battles, personalities, logistics, development of weapons – but they do NOT have to!  New members are most welcome.

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HIS 13: PEASANTS AND PARISIANS: GEOGRAPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON NINETEENTH CENTURY FRANCE (SPRING TERM)

Tutor: Alan Baker                                                
Day and time: Wednesday 11.00 - 12.00              
Venue: Lecture Theatre, Queens' Building, Emmanuel College
Terms: Spring.                                                    
Number of places: 140
Ten talks discussing the challenges posed to a ‘traditional’ peasantry between 1815 and 1914 by a ‘modernising’ French State.  Portrayal of a ‘backward’ peasantry in literature and art will be followed by discussion of the impact on rural society of schooling, military conscription and the coming of railways.  Determined efforts by central governments in Paris to ‘colonise’ the provinces and create a nation State that was ‘one and indivisible’ (and ultimately secular and republican) will be discussed.  The course will also consider the resistance to that nationalising process provided by the Church and by some regions distant from Paris.  Another counter-weight will also be examined: the massive growth of voluntary associations mediating between individuals and the State.  The final group of three talks will focus on the material and symbolic transformation of Paris – the City of Light – between 1850 and 1914.
Note:  On the 22nd February 2012 the talk will be in the Old Library at Emmanuel College.

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HIS 14: ROMAN HISTORY: THE FIRST 'EMPEROR' AUGUSTUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS

Tutor: Prof David Page                                       
Day and time: Thursday 10.00 - 11.30              
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.                         
Number of places: 43
After defeating Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC, the future ‘emperor’ Augustus spent over 40 years (27BC-AD14) laying the foundations of ‘the Roman Empire’.  Our course will study his achievements in a wide variety of areas: military (army reform and territorial expansion), constitutional (developing the powers of ‘the First Citizen’), political (relations with the Senate), social (marriage, divorce, freeing of slaves), religious (revival and innovation), architectural (enhancing the City of Rome).  We will then examine the ‘reigns’ of his Julio-Claudian successors AD 14-68 (Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero) to see how they tackled the many problems facing them, the Civil War of AD 68-69 which followed Nero’s suicide, and the foundation and achievements of the new Flavian Dynasty AD 69-96 (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian).  Illustrated lectures, a handout summarising each talk, and time for questions and comments.  This is a repeat of 2010-11’s HIS 18 and HIS 19 (combined).

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HIS 15: ROMAN HISTORY: THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT (AND BEYOND)

Tutor: Prof David Page                                       
Day and time: Wednesday 10.00 - 11.30                 
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring, summer.                         
Number of places: 43
A chronological continuation of 2010-11’s HIS18 and HIS19 and best suited to those who have already studied the emperor Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors (27 BC-AD 68). 
We will begin with a review of the Civil war (AD 68-69) and of the Flavian Dynasty (AD 69-96: Vespasian, Titus, Domitian) and then go on to examine the period of the ‘Five Good Emperors’ (AD 96-181: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius), their struggles, idiosyncrasies and achievements; the reign of Commodus (of Gladiator fame), the civil war following his assassination in AD 193, and the establishment of the Severan Dynasty (AD 193-235) with its powerful female figures (Julia Domna, Julia Maesa, Julia Soaemias, Julia Mamaea).  We will glance at the 50 years of chaos of the mid 200s and then see how the empire was pulled from the brink of collapse by powerful figures like Aurelian (AD 270-275) and re-organised under Diocletian (AD 284-305).  Some attention will be given also to the growth of ‘the Church’ and to the persecution of Christians before the ‘Edict of Toleration’ of AD 311.
Illustrated lectures, a handout summarising each talk, time for questions and comments.

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HIS 16: A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS (SPRING TERM)

Leaders: Linda Saunders & Sue Woodsford            
Day and time: Monday 12.50 - 1.50                     
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Spring.                                                    
Number of places: 12
A one-term introduction to the fascinating tale told with such verve by Pepys in his diary, for those unfamiliar with it.  Topics will include the Plague, the Great Fire of London and the Dutch Wars as well as life at court and at home and in the bustling streets, theatres, taverns and alleyways of seventeenth century London.

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HIS 17: SNAPSHOTS OF SPAIN'S PAST

Tutor: Ken Smith                                                 
Day and time: Tuesday 1.15 -  2.45                     
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 25
This series of talks is for anyone who would like to know some of the historical events which have contributed to the culture of modern Spain and the attitudes of its people.  The sessions will consist of visual presentations with some time for questions and discussion.  The topics will include: the Moorish influence, Spain’s Golden Age, an 18C expedition to South America, the loss of Spain’s empire, wars in Morocco, a review of recent Spanish novels, and some trends in post-Franco cinema. Ken Smith cannot claim to be a historian, however in these sessions he will draw on his interest in Spain and its people.  No knowledge of Spanish language is necessary.  Some members who attend will no doubt be able to bring further knowledge of these topics, and will be welcome to join in any discussions which may develop.

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HIS 18: SOME EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD

Co-ordinator: Dick Wilson                                  
Day and time: Wednesday 11.45 - 1.00                
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn, spring.                                       
Number of places: 40
This course of 20 classes will give a short outline of world history by selecting some of the main themes: chronology, prehistory, culture and technology, the great empires, religion, and politics.  Talks will be given by the co-ordinator or by specialists on particular topics with the co-ordinator providing links.

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HIS 19: THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Tutor: Nick Coni                                                 
Day and time: Monday 12.40 - 2.10                     
Venue: Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 40
The course will attempt to trace the events leading up to the war, and its causes.  It will follow the course of the war and its various stages.  It will attempt to tease out some of the labyrinthine political developments during the conflict as well as looking at its international ramifications.  A final session will consider Spain’s transition to democracy after the dictatorship.

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HIS 20: VICTORIAN REPUTATIONS

Tutor: Gerald Goldstone                                      
Day and time: Wednesday 10.15 - 11.30              
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 15
We shall look at the careers and reputations of various groups of Victorians – for example, engineers, factory owners, writers, scientists, politicians and artists – to see why they were famous in their day and what we think of them now.  There will be plenty of scope for input from class members.

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HIS 21: WHAT TRIGGERED THE PACIFIC WAR 1879

Tutor: Carlos de la Riva                                      
Day and time: Tuesday 10.00 - 11.00                  
Terms: Autumn, spring.                                       
Number of places: 5
A discussion and reading group on the historical facts of this land and sea war that reshaped the newly formed independent South American nations.  We will consider the use of naval supremacy in the transition from sail to steam, as well as trade and resources, and show how unstable military regimes found themselves incapable of retaining possession of a coastline or use the natural resources to achieve such an end.

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HIS 22: WOMEN'S VOICES FROM THE POST WAR WORLD

Leader: Carole Pook                                            
Day and time: Thursday 2.45 - 4.15                     
Venue: Room 4, 27-28 Bridge Street
Terms: Autumn.                                                  
Number of places: 14
We will read and discuss what women have written about their own experiences of the post war world in their homes and their work places.

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HIS 23: YOUR CAMBRIDGE

Leaders: Desmond FitzGerald, Chris Lakin & Bill Peters
Day and time: Thursday 11.00 - 12.30                 
Venue: Various venues around Cambridge (Autumn Term)
Room 1, 27-28 Bridge Street (Spring Term)
Terms: Autumn, spring.                                       
Number of places: 24
Last year's course, titled Cambridge, Past, Present and Future, has visited many of the Cambridge museums, the Cambridge News, BBC Cambridge, Donarbon and the CCTV control centre. We have also met with Julian Huppert MP, the Mayor Sheila Stuart and had talks from Tim Holt, Head of Communications at Cambridge University, Peter Studdert, former Director for Cambridge growth areas and Allan Brigham, the well known street sweeper and Blue Badge Guide to list a few.  It is planned that, for 2011/12 we will build on the successes of previous years and hopefully, further stimulate interest in our wonderful city.  We intend to repeat those talks and visits that were most popular, which includes those on the list above.  Some of the speakers and sites we visit make a charge so occasionally we will need to make a collection.  This will not exceed £4 for a meeting and is unlikely to be on more than five of the 20 meetings.  At our first meeting at the Cambridge Folk Museum we will detail the programme and answer questions.
Note: The Group will meet from 11.00 - 12.30 during the Autumn Term and 11.30 - 1.00 during the Spring Term.

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