Portrait of a Young Woman, Seated
In the latest in his series of personal musings on some of the Fitzwilliam’s treasures, Philip Stephenson introduces us to the lives and loves of early 20th century artistic Paris.
Trust me, I’m a politician
Do politicians keep their promises? Have they ever? Richard Toye and David Thackeray give us the historical perspective, through the lens of an artefact from 1929.
I’m hungry. Whose fault is that? And who should fix it?
Food poverty in the UK has quadrupled in the last year, as the nation faces Covid-19. Luckily, footballers are on hand to help: but perhaps that’s not the best way of solving this? Sam Strong explores the politics of responsibility.
The Wages of Silence
‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity’, wrote Yeats. Penned the day after a violent incursion into the US Capitol, Homerton’s Bill Foster - an historian both of Nazi Germany and the modern United States - considers how silence enables destruction.
Beyond Blues: the psychology of grit
Alice White recalls advice from two sports psychologists: advice which is helping her in daily life in a pandemic
We shouldn’t be afraid of calling Churchill a racist
Richard Toye dares to call Winston Churchill a racist - and also to appreciate other facets and attributes of this extraordinary figure.
Cricket in the time of corona
Director of Studies in Engineering Dr Miles Stopher muses on past cricketing glories and has an awkward encounter with his schoolboy past
Rhinos: Culture, Colonialism and Conservation
Oscar Wilson writes about historical perceptions of rhinos, in this lovely and pioneering article - the first contribution by a student writer to the Homersphere!
Don’t write your essays like this
Richard Toye - historian and scholar of rhetoric - has been writing a book aimed at helping students succeed academically. Here he gives us an insider’s preview…
The ties that bind: pregnancy and heart disease
Clare Oliver-Williams is investigating links between pregnancy and heart disease, and finds good news and a challenge
Paintings for our times: Brueghel's Village Festival
Lamenting the loss of the Cambridge Beer Festival, Philip Stephenson draws inspiration from Brueghel’s festival-goers, in his latest commentary on the Fitzwilliam Museum’s collection
What social distancing taught me about plumbing
David Clifford does prolonged battle with a leak, reluctant plumbers, reluctant social distancers, and his sense of his own DIY capabilities.
Paintings for our times: Nicholson’s Armistice Night, 1918
Philip Stephenson’s series of commentaries on art from the Fitzwilliam Museum continues with a reflection on VE Day 1945 and its resonances with the Armistice, as depicted by Sir William Nicholson RA in 1918.
A Playlist: For These Distracted Times
Inspired by Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656), John Hopkins has curated a playlist ‘for these distracted times’, from his own compositions and others’.
Star Wars: Dystopia and New Hope
To launch the Homersphere and to mark international Star Wars Day, we asked Bye-Fellow Robin Bunce to write about the franchise and its considerations of utopia and dystopia. May the fourth be with you all!
Turning the tide? Rhetorical lessons for Boris Johnson from WWII
Richard Toye recommends five lessons that Boris Johnson should take from his hero Winston Churchill, as he treats Covid-19 as the defining war of his premiership
Miriam & Youssef: the story of the foundation of Israel
Homersphere’s first exclusive! Steve Waters tells us about his new radio drama Miriam & Youssef, which over 10 episodes explores the foundation of the modern state of Israel.
A tropical lockdown miscellany
Richard Hickman, academic and artist, is stuck in Singapore. Locked down and bored, he writes on his surroundings, and illustrates his thoughts with his own paintings, new and old
Poetic forms and musical titles
John Hopkins, Emeritus Fellow in Music, was challenged by a pianist to create a composition based on one of poetry’s most elaborate forms - only to find an unexpected marketing difficulty…
Paintings for our times: The Annunciation, Domenico Veneziano, 1447
Philip Stephenson considers ‘spiritual distancing’ in the Annunciation by Veneziano