I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at two excellent history of emotions conferences in the last couple of weeks. The Netherlands Historical Society took for the theme of their 2011 conference: ‘Cool, Calm, and Collected: The Dutch and their Emotions in Pre-Modern … Continue reading
I was teaching an undergraduate seminar this afternoon on Oscar Wilde and Catholicism. We discussed Wilde’s statement that ‘Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither.’ Wilde’s fascination with the sensual materiality of Catholic rituals, especially the … Continue reading
Susan J. Matt is Presidential Distinguished Professor of History at Weber State University, and a leading historian of emotions in the United States. Her first book, Keeping Up With the Joneses, was a study of envy in modern consumer society. … Continue reading
After the riots in England earlier this month, emotions and education have loomed large in resulting social commentaries. One chief constable, Chris Sims of the West Midlands police, said of the Birmingham rioters that they were “not an angry crowd, … Continue reading
Sally Holloway was one of the speakers at our series of Lunchtime Seminars at Queen Mary during 2010-11. Her PhD research at Royal Holloway, University of London, explores the role of material objects in eighteenth-century love and courtship. In this … Continue reading
There has been a series of fear-related British news stories during the last week. First there was the Archbishop of Canterbury, in an editorial for the New Statesman, warning the coalition government about the effects of their policies in such … Continue reading
Do animals have emotions? The histories of science, literature, philosophy and religion have offered up a range of answers. This series of occasional essays on emotional animals in history offers some materials with which to think about the question. No. … Continue reading