Women who shaped the world (and why you’ve probably never heard of them)
Garden 1–2pm
Janina Ramirez (Chair), Mary Orr (University of St Andrews), Dr Rebecca Preston (English Heritage), and more names to be announced
Women in the early nineteenth century allegedly could not participate in scientific exploration or the discovery of new natural history. Yet multiple specialist contributions provide extensive counter evidence. Janina Ramirez, author of Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It, will chair this panel featuring Mary Orr, British Academy-funded academic, and Rebecca Preston, a historian with English Heritage’s London Blue Plaques Scheme, to celebrate women from SHAPE disciplines who have been overlooked throughout history.
Watch Rebecca discuss why so few women are celebrated by the London Blue Plaques Scheme.
As part of her project 'A remarkable woman in science: Sarah Bowdich (Lee) 1791-1856' for the 2021-2022 British Academy Donald Winch Fund Senior Research Fellowship in Intellectual History, Mary is releasing her forthcoming book Sarah Bowdich Lee (1791-1856) and Pioneering Perspectives on Natural History with Anthem Press.
Looking Back to See Forward: The legacy of Windrush
Garden 3–4pm
Lisa Anderson (Chair), Eleni Liarou (Birkbeck, University of London), Onyekachi Wambu (African Foundation for Development)
In June 1948, the SS Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury and disembarked hundreds of young men and women from the Caribbean. The impact of this arrival is still understood and respected 75 years later. Join our speakers as they discuss the significance of this anniversary, reflect upon how Windrush has been understood, and posit ways of sharing this history for future generations.
Eleni’s research project, ‘Decolonising the BBC Archive: Radio News and the language of race in post-WWII Britain’ invites different generations of the public from African and Caribbean backgrounds to speak back to the BBC’s reporting across the corporation's history. Learn more about the project in 'Whose voice, whose story?'
Watch Onyekachi in conversation on the restitution of African and Caribbean artefacts in the possession of museums, galleries and religious buildings around the world.
Park Life: Why should we value green space in a city?
Wolfson Room 11am–12pm
Ellen Miles (Participatory chair, Nature is a Human Right), Tara Gbolade (Gbolade Design Studio), Ben Jones (British Academy-funded researcher)
Contact with nature has been found to be as vital to our welfare as regular exercise and a healthy diet. In our first panel discussion of the Summer Showcase, Ellen Miles, founder of campaign ‘Nature is a Human Right’, speaks to Ben Jones, British Academy-funded researcher and Professor of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia and Tara Gbolade, Sustainable Architect, about the importance of democratising green space in cities and the difficulties we face ensuring our green spaces are maintained, expanded, and valued in urban areas.
Watch Ellen discuss her book Nature is a Human Right. And hear from Tara on strategies for sustainable design and building for the future;
Imagine a world without refugee camps
Wolfson Room 2–3pm
Kate Crawford (KLH Sustainability), Lucy Earle (International Institute for Environment and Development), Romola Sanyal (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Three researchers with shared backgrounds in displacement crises – engineer Kate Crawford, social scientist Lucy Earle and urban planner Romola Sanyal – join forces for this panel discussion examining the potential feasibility of a world with no long-term refugee camps.
Watch Kate discuss the demolition of social housing, one of the most contentious issues surrounding urban regeneration.
And listen to Romola and Lucy discuss how policymakers conceptualise the wellbeing of displaced refugees in camps compared with urban areas in this episode of the Displacement Urbanism podcast.
Democratising Space: Opening up a Grade I listed building
Wolfson Room 12.30–1pm
Manijeh Verghese, Architectural Association; Maeve Lock, Wright & Wright Architects
Wright & Wright Architects are transforming the Academy’s Grade I-listed building into a space that invites the public to come and experience the research we support.
We have invited Manijeh Verghese to speak to Maeve Lock about what it means to democratise heritage buildings in central London, and the role of the architect as a communicator in changing our relationship with these sorts of spaces.
Watch Manijeh argue why pubs are some of the best examples of the power of architecture.
Untold Narratives of WWII
Music Room 2–3pm
Diya Gupta (Chair), Steve Hatton, Ellen Pilsworth, Luke Turner
This event will begin with a screening of the award-winning short documentary film Heilig (2011, 17 minutes), which offers an intimate portrait of Jewish Kindertransport refugee Gerhard Heilig, introduced by filmmaker Steve Hatton.
Diya Gupta, author of India in the Second World War: An Emotional History, will then lead a conversation with Steve Hatton, author Luke Turner (Men at War: Loving, Lusting, Fighting, Remembering 1939-1945) and British Academy-funded researcher Ellen Pilsworth. They will look beyond retrogressive ideals and explore untold narratives of the Second World War.
From a bisexual Commando and the former POW who became an LGBT+ activist, to Indians in service and at home during the war, the panel will share these stories, and explore how they help us to gain a true understanding of this rich history.