Tagged content
A newly identified Scottish Boethius manuscript
Dr Kylie Murray is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford. Her research project is on ‘Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy in Scotland, c.1120-c.1570’. This article in the British Academy Review is on ‘A newly identified Scottish Boethius manuscript: Rethinking Scotland’s intellectual and literary culture in the Middle …
The origin of Arabs: Middle Eastern ethnicity and myth-making
Dr Peter Webb is currently a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He is author of "Imagining the Arabs: Arab Identity and the Rise of Islam" (2016).
Human nature in society
Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington argues that lessons from evolution can support academic critique of how society is run.
A passion for war poetry
Philip Lancaster tells how his study of the War Poets has inspired him to compose a new musical work.
Tudor music on the international stage
In December 2014, the British Academy published an edition of Tallis and Byrd’s 1575 Cantiones sacrae, a collection of Latin motets dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I and intended to serve as a cultural ambassador in continental Europe. The volume’s editor, Dr John Milsom, discusses its origins, contents and significance.
Hearing Colours and Tasting Words: The Psychology of Synaesthesia
Dr Julia Simner, University of Edinburgh, works in the field of experimental psychology. During her British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (2001–2004) she looked at how people processed the meaning of words from their preceding context. Her current research interests include the condition of synaesthesia – a joining together of sensations which …
Records of Social and Economic History (BAR 19)
The British Academy’s ‘Records of Social and Economic History’ series exists to publish primary sources that aid the study of social and economic history. Professor Richard M. Smith FBA, who chairs the editorial committee, discusses the most recent volumes published in the series.
Records of Social and Economic History (BAR 5)
The thirtieth volume in the New Series of Records of Social and Economic History was published in June 2001. Professor Michael Thompson FBA, Chairman of the editorial committee and General Editor of the series, discusses the past achievements and future ambitions of this highly regarded British Academy series.
Two Enlightenments
Professor Gertrude Himmelfarb FBA, Professor Emeritus of History in the City University of New York, delivered the 5th Elie Kedourie Lecture at the Academy on 15 May 2001. In the lecture, Profesor Himmelfarb illustrated the differences between the French and British Enlightenments by focusing on the distinctive social ethics in …
The Rise of Islamic Radicalism in Tanzania
From 1998 to 2005, Dr Felicitas Becker conducted hundreds of interviews in Tanzania, both to discover why and how many people had converted to Islam and to investigate why these Muslim congregations have produced Islamic radicals. This edited extract from her book, ‘Becoming Muslim in Mainland Tanzania, 1890–2000’, gives an …
The Effect of Taxes and Bans on Passive Smoking
Jérôme Adda and Francesca Cornaglia discuss a more precise way of measuring the impact of smoking bans on passive smoking, and report some surprising conclusions. (Dr Cornaglia gave a presentation on this topic at the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Symposium in April 2008.)
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