History Alumni Lecture 2019 - “HISTORY & MEMORY IN BREXIT BRITAIN”

“HISTORY & MEMORY IN BREXIT BRITAIN”

Many different groups mobilise knowledge of the past – or particular interpretations of it – for their own purposes in the present. Historical arguments and resonances figure prominently our all-consuming national debate on Brexit, and also in increasingly overlapping arguments over Scottish independence, the simmering tensions in Northern Ireland, and our relationship with the nations of the former British Empire. At the same time, the research of professional academic historians is now partly being judged on ‘impact’: its capacity to influence public opinion and the formation of policy. The pressure is on. How can historians most usefully contribute to these debates, and to a greater public understanding of the uses and abuses of history within them?

As ever, King’s History is ahead of the curve. Teaching and research on these issues has become a distinctive specialism of the King’s History Department, across all regions and periods. In 2009 we launched a new second-year undergraduate course on ‘History and Memory’, in which our students explore the multi-faceted and often controversial relationships between professional historians and other groups with an interest in the past: politicians and states, cultural institutions, the media, and the public. This year’s Alumni Lecture marks the tenth anniversary of our pioneering teaching in this area, and the recent publication of an edited volume on ‘History, Memory and Public Life’ co-edited by three members of the Department and including contributions from several others who teach on the course. Three members of the Department will offer reflections on the role of historical memory in current public debate. Adam Sutcliffe will begin, with an overview of the course and the book, and of the recent history and current state of historians’ thinking on the place of historical memory in the world around us. Alice Taylor will then draw on her path breaking recent work on medieval Scottish history to explore the uses of the past in the great independence debates. The event concludes with Richard Vinen thinking about Mrs. Thatcher and the role of historical memory in shaping British attitudes towards Europe. The lectures will be followed by questions, and then, of course, by wine and hors d’oeuvres in our departmental open space on the 8th floor of the Strand Building.

Doors open at 6:30pm.