Penelope J. Corfield is a historian, lecturer and education consultant. She recently served as the President of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS).
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MONTHLY BLOG 114, SELF-ISOLATION EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STYLE
/in History, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig.1 Engraving (1808) of Lord Rokeby (1713-1800), a famous eighteenth-century self-isolator, who looked like a wise old wizard but whose actual message was obscure. It’s not original to note that humans are a highly social species. But it’s only now becoming generally appreciated just […]
MONTHLY BLOG 113, LIGHT FROM THE LAMP OF EXPERIENCE
/in History, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig.1, A hand-held eighteenth-century lantern, its lighted candle providing an immediate pool of light. ‘The Lamp of Experience’ is a marvellous phrase. A lantern throws light. It does not insist dogmatically but instead conveys sufficient illumination for good judgment. ‘Experience’ is also a vital […]
MONTHLY BLOG 112, ON RECONSIDERING THE (INTERRUPTED) FUTURE
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig.1 Silhouettes of grass in fog It is not possible to learn from the future that has not yet unfolded. The unidirectional nature of Time forbids it. So when people assert airily: ‘We don’t learn from the past’, I am incredulous. What? Of course, […]
MONTHLY BLOG 111, THREE RULES FOR WRITING A REGULAR BLOG
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig.1 After Henry Robert Morland, Writing by Candlelight (mid-C18) Firstly and inevitably: have something to say.1 No point in writing just to fill the blank page. And, more particularly, decide on the topic at least two or three days in advance. That system […]
MONTHLY BLOG 110, THE (POLITICAL) RED-GREEN ALLIANCE
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Call it a political RED-GREEN alliance. Call it a loose political RED-GREEN federation. Even a move towards a full-blown RED-GREEN party merger? But enough shilly-shallying. It’s time for action. The global climate emergency makes that clear enough. If there are any continuing doubters, then […]
MONTHLY BLOG 109, HONOURING VERA BÁCSKAI (1930-2018)
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Vera Bácskai in 2016 in image taken from Youtube Interview in Hungarian: © Tabudöntök: Bácskai Vera a Petőfi Körrol (2016) Behind the invariably calm, genial and ecumenical welcome accorded by Vera Bácskai to her many friends and colleagues around the world, there was a hit […]
MONTHLY BLOG 108, Why must Humans beware the Midas Touch?
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2019) PJC REVIEWS CHARLES DICKENS A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1843) ADAPTED FOR STAGE PERFORMANCE BY LAURA TURNER (2010; updated 2019) Viewed at Palace Theatre, Appleton Gate, Newark NG24 1JY 16 November 2019 Cast (alphabetically): The Chapterhouse Touring Company – Gareth Cary; Matthew Christmas; Eliza Jade; Graham […]
MONTHLY BLOG 107, Reasons for unrepentant (relative) Optimism about the coming of Green Politics
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2019) Fig.1 Greta Thunberg (b. 2003), Swedish environmental activist; author of No One is Too Small to Make a Difference (2019) In response to my October BLOG about Greener Cities, I got many queries about how I could plausibly state that ‘I am an unrepentant […]
MONTHLY BLOG 106, Cities Greener Still and Greener
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2019) Scrapbook Silhouettes: available EBay (2019) Towns and cities are wonderful human creations. They allow large numbers of people to live together at high density, reasonably successfully, without spreading all over Planet Earth. The mixture of collective and individual organisation that enables this process to […]
MONTHLY BLOG 105, Researchers, Do Your Ideas Have Impact? A Critique of Short-Term Impact Assessments
/in Civics, Monthly Blog/by Penelope J. CorfieldIf citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2019) Clenched Fist © Victor-Portal-Fist (2019) Researchers, do your ideas have impact? Does your work produce ‘an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia’? Since 2014, that question has […]