The Centre for the History of Women's Education at the University of Winchester is proud to host a public lecture on the role of the historical pageant in Winchester as part of the History of Education Society's 50th Anniversary Annual Conference.
Historical pageants were once a significant form of popular engagement with the past, bringing communities together to re-enact scenes, events or characters from history. Some of these had casts of thousands and audiences in the tens of thousands and they often involved schools, youth organisations and other educational groups. While pageants declined in popularity from the 1950s, they have never entirely died out and the tradition continues today.
The talk, which will be delivered jointly by Dr Mark Freeman, Reader in Education and Social History, UCL Institute of Education; and Dr Linda Fleming, Affiliate Researcher in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow, will examine the key features of a historical pageant and will highlight the role that pageants have played in the history of Winchester city.
The Redress of the Past: Commemoration Through Historical Pageants in Twentieth-Century Britain talk takes place at 11.30-12.30pm on 12 November in the Crystal Room, Winchester Hotel, Worthy Lane, Winchester, SO23 7AB.
The conference, The Celebration, Commemoration and Collaboration - Milestones in the History of Education (10-12 November), celebrates 50 years of scholarship and international collaboration and seeks to look forward to what the next fifty years might hold. The three-day conference will host a variety of talks by a variety of academics from the University of Winchester and universities in the UK and abroad.
Stephanie Spencer, Professor of History of Women's Education and President of the History of Education Society, said: "We are delighted that Winchester is the venue for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the History of Education Society.
Winchester itself has a long legacy of interest and investment in formal and informal education. The conference will highlight the significance of understanding the history of education in order to learn from the past to inform the future. We are looking forward to hearing from new scholars as well as those with an international reputation."
University of Winchester academics taking part in the conference include: Professor Joyce Goodman, Professor of History Education; Professor June Boyce-Tillman, Professor of Applied Music; Dr Meritxell Simon-Martin, Research Student and member of the Centre for the History of Women's Education; Dr Sue Anderson-Faithful, Senior Lecturer in Education; Camilla Leach, Visiting Research Fellow; and Daniel Kontowski, Education Studies and Liberal Arts Graduate student.
Tickets for the public lecture are free but limited and booking is essential: email CHWE@winchester.ac.uk