An Academic Grief Observed
In A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis attempts to reconcile with the loss of his beloved wife. It is a brief, honest, sometimes cutting but not entirely unashamed account. The latter feature is what makes the work so interesting and meaningful. Lewis describes how in one moment he needs to be surrounded and coddled; he wants to be asked how he is doing. In another moment, he wants nothing less. He is aware of the difficulty this creates for those around him, including his daughter:
2 hours ago5 min read
On History, Historical Materialism and Artificial Intelligence
What is the role of a historian? Historians research, analyse and interpret the past, extracting meaning and establishing patterns from evidence (Anderson, 2004: 81-82). This evidence is often hard to find, it's located in the ground or within the archival depths. Once found, they work with primary sources; eavesdropping on the past to construct arguments about what happened and weighing up evidence based on scraps of information (Galgano et al., 2008: 1-5, Devon et al., 2012
Jul 216 min read
Digital Folklore or Fakelore? History and Archives in Practice, Western Bank Library, April 16th 2025
A few weeks ago, The National Archives (TNA) came to town, with our University of Sheffield Special Collections hosting History and Archives in Practice (HAP). Bridging archivists and historians through close conversation, HAP is a key TNA event demonstrating the range of work being done on historical collections, with an emphasis on hands-on research. Of course, applying digital methods to collections is central to archival practice, and offers a way to enhance the co-creati
Apr 277 min read