The man from the Clapham Omnibus

“There were no revolutionary circumstances, but rather a revolution that reacted to circumstance.” – Francois Furet on the French Revolution. The Trump and Sander’s movements stem from a similar shift in historical consciousness to that which Francois Furet highlighted as unleashing the French Revolution. Americans feel like the current political system has failed them, it no longer works. Hence the establishment needs to go. This same stirring of consciousness is happening in Europe. The juggernaut in Brussels continues to grow and antagonism continues to rise. Marine Le Pen’s National Front is now one of the largest political forces in France, Austria very narrowly avoided electing a right wing president. Instead they went for a member of the Green party and not an establishment candidate. . Something is stirring, and I can’t help but get the feeling that we are living in historically significant times. As a British permanent resident of the US I can’t vot...

Emma Hinchliffe is a second year PhD student at the University of Washington. She is just about to start work on her dissertation entitled, “Henry VIII and the Material Manifestation of Worldly Kingship.” The project will include a documentary/digital simulation of Henry’s court alongside the traditional written thesis. Emma’s ultimate career goal is to run her own non-fiction media company that specializes in historical programming. In this post, she shares with us about her experience as a film student at the Northwest Film Forum, which she attended alongside her graduate coursework at UW, her plans for incorporating film into her academic work, and advice for students looking to forge new paths through grad school . “The universe is made up of stories not atoms…” Muriel Rukeyser . About a year ago I came across the above quote and realized that this principle has always been silently guiding my academic career and interests. I first discovered my love of ...