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Foreword (BAR 10)
One of the British Academy’s primary concerns is to communicate the value and significance of work done by scholars in the humanities and social sciences. This latest issue of the ‘British Academy Review’ is an important contribution, highlighting a range of research undertaken under the auspices of the Academy. The …
The Power of the Past
The British Academy and the British School of Archaeology in Iraq co-sponsored a conference on ‘Steady States: Institutional Stability in the Face of Political Change’, the proceedings of which have now been published. Dr Harriet Crawford explains how for thousands of years government practices and personnel managed to survive violent …
Copyright and Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences: a British Academy Review (BAR)
Through its series of research-related reviews, the British Academy seeks to examine issues crucial to the condition and health of its areas of interest. Professor John Kay FBA, Chairman of the British Academy’s Copyright Working Group, reports on the main findings and recommendations of the Review.
Migration in the Crusades to the Medieval Middle East
Dr Piers D Mitchell and Dr Andrew R Millard describe the first surprising results from their research into the migration patterns of Europeans taking part in the Crusades. Their project illustrates the significant role scientific archaeology can play in supplementing knowledge based on the historical record.
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
The current research of Dr Rachel Beckles Willson is concerned with examining western classical music in the Middle East. As one element in her programme, she spent time with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said. In this article, she considers the impact of the founders’ …
The First English Bible: A Lost Opportunity
The medieval English Church prohibited the use of the translation of the Bible made in Wyclif’s time. Traditionally, the Wycliffite Bible has been understood as a reformist document, but Dr Mary Dove argues that, contrary to received opinion, the readership was prodominantly devout and orthodox. She sets out the evidence …
Captivated by Africa's Geography: James McQueen, Thomas Fowell Buxton and the Abolition of Slavery
Dr David Lambert, Reader in Historical Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, tells the story of an unlikely alliance in British efforts to stem the sources of the slave trade in Africa, and describes how geographical knowledge – derived from displaced slaves themselves – contributed to abolitionist endeavours.
Ibadan 1960
Dr Will Rea, of the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds paints a picture of Ibadan, sketching the history and describing the unique characteristics of the city, that gave rise in the 1960s to the remarkable ‘Ibadan renaissance’ of writers and …
Progress in Understanding 'Tone Deafness'
Karen Wise, Professor John Sloboda FBA, and Professor Isabelle Peretz describe recent research into the condition of tone deafness, or ‘congenital amusia’, and consider the phenomenon of those who are not apparently tone deaf but who classify themselves as such.
Word Comprehension in Younger and Older Adults: When is a Difference a Deficit?
Dr Meredith Shafto is engaged on a long-term project to understand the cognitive changes that happen as we age. In this article, she describes her current work on language comprehension.
British Academy Review, Issue 10, 2007
Read about historical and contemporary issues, from east and west, from software to music, from philosophy to psychology, from Nazi Germany to recent UK defence decision-making. Also policy issues, including copyright and the decline in the study of modern foreign languages.
How Philosophers Die
Dr David Palfrey, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow 2003-06, examines some stories about the deaths of philosophers and asks whether, from a philosophical perspective, the manner of their death can tell us anything about the precepts they espoused.
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