Thursday, 31 January 2019 at 5:30 pm – Thursday, 31 January 2019 at 7:00 pm
Professor Helen King: ‘Does the Evidence Really Say That? Doing Ancient History in the Internet Age’
The Fourth Annual Whitehead Lecture and Classical Association Public Lecture
Date: Wednesday 30th January 2019
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: LT6, Geoffrey Manton
Tickets: Free – available on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/manchester-classical-associations-fourth-annual-whitehead-lecture-tickets-50332200968
* * * PLEASE NOTE: This event is taking place on Wednesday 30th January 2019, not Thursday 31st January 2019 as previously stated * * *
The Fourth Annual Whitehead Lecture is the flagship event of the Manchester Branch of the Classical Association's lecture series. It also celebrates the addition of ManMet to teaching, research and knowledge exchange in Classics and Ancient History in the region.
The internet has changed how we do history of any kind. Primary sources are readily available to anyone with an interest in finding them, and more secondary material is available every day. But how do we evaluate the reliability of the evidence we find, and - even more importantly - how can we ensure that those with a general interest in ancient history have access to good materials? I've recently finished writing a book on how the internet does the ancient world, with special reference to Hippocrates. As part of this, I've engaged with some entirely fictional claims about the 'Father of Medicine' which now circulate widely, including the claims that he was the first to describe hysteria, and that he was imprisoned for twenty years for challenging the establishment. I suggest that, in some ways, there's nothing new here: people have always told the stories they like and have played fast and loose with the evidence. But, in other ways, things have changed: access to bad history is now more widespread than ever.
Our annual Whitehead Prize will also be awarded at this event. The Whitehead Prize was established in 2015 in memory of Anthony Whitehead, a great friend of the branch and of Classics. It is awarded to students (sixth-formers, undergraduate or postgraduate) who have successfully endeavoured to
promote Classics in the community.
Further Manchester Branch of the Classical Association papers for 2018/19 here: https://www.manchesterca.org.uk/
The Manchester Classical Association Branch was set up in November 1904 at the University
of Manchester with a total of 178 members. Manchester Met’s Dr April Pudsey, Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, is the chair and the Public Lecture series is selected with our Manchester Metropolitan University research centres in History in mind: MCPHH and MCYS.
The Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage (MCPHH) explores the complex economic, social and cultural inter-relationships which connect people, places and the past, from the choices made in conserving and commemorating visual and material culture to the intangible practices of heritage handed
down from generation to generation.
The Manchester Centre for Youth Studies (MCYS) is an interdisciplinary research centre. Our vision is for MCYS to become a world leader in youth-informed and youth-led research that positively influences the lives of young people.