This Friday is the big one - the one where our History champions take centre stage and show the world that our LABBERS have talent.
This is the kind of quality you have to look forward to (in alphabetical order):
Miriam Cady: The process of negotiating and expressing personal identity, especially by marginalized populations, can be a lengthy and difficult process. Through the exploration of fan culture, this paper will shed light on how Trekkies use the material culture associated with Star Trek as a touchstone in the negotiation of their personal and group identity. Drawn to the math and science base of the show, many fans found comfort in the humanist philosophy presented by Gene Roddenberry, as well as the accepting and safe principles of the concept of the IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Within this safe sphere, Trekkies have used clothing, language and convention attendance to express themselves.
Maureen Harris: The ‘debauched and scandalous’ parson and the ‘wit-already-expired rogue’: cutting the Anglican minister down to size in the Warwickshire parish, 1660-1720
Parishioners ridiculed, discredited and sometimes took ‘absolute revenge’ on an unpopular minister through verbal and physical abuse, breaking into churches, destroying bells, withholding tithes and repair levies, petitioning, stealing pulpit cushions, urinating in church and sometimes telling downright lies. These parish conflicts are described in the bishop’s consistory court papers, a greatly undervalued source. But beneath the name-calling (on both sides) were issues of confessional belief, anticlericalism and ecclesiastical economics. And the methods used by ordinary men, and women, reveal a lively society of vociferous individuals, collaborating with their neighbours to control the social and political dynamics of their neighbourhood.
Ann Stones: This paper will explore changes in sense of place on Leicester council estates, specifically in New Parks and Braunstone. Is it true that these estates were places where people once aspired to live and from which they now seek to escape?
The research will make use of oral history archives and the author’s own interviews with those who have lived or worked on these estates. Artistic, literary and musical output of these environs will be considered in a search for evidence of changes in local identity. The study will look for changes over time, for differences between the two estates, and for differences between estate residents and their non estate neighbours. The author is a ‘council estate girl’ who hopes that conclusions drawn from this research will not only highlight the reasons for any problems within estates, but also dispel any misconceptions about them.
Combined with tea and cake this is one LAB, YOUR LAB, that you cannot miss.
