In this talk, Julie Gibbings (Edinburgh) explores the microhistories of the Guatemalan Revolution of 1944 and its aftermath. Focusing especially on the lives of families living on plantations in the Alta Verapaz region, she explains how affective and intimate relations reflected broader political trends. The talk is followed by a short comment by Julia McClure (Glasgow). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in November 2019.

In this talk, Jay Winter (Yale) explores the role of silence in traumatic memory, with particular reference to World War One and its aftermath. He argues that silence has been underestimated as a form of memory in relation to war and other moments of extreme violence. The talk is followed by a short comment by Paul Leworthy (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in November 2019.

In this talk, Julia Nicholls (King's College, London) discusses the development of the French revolutionary tradition in the years following the Paris Commune of 1871. She argues that revolutionaries in this period had a more complex relationship to France's revolutionary past than is commonly assumed. The talk is followed by a short comment by Emile Chabal.

In this talk, Paolo Gerbaudo (King's College, London) discusses the impact of social media on the public sphere and the consequences of social media for the functioning of our democracy. The talk is followed by a short comment by Rory Scothorne (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in October 2019.

In this roundtable discussion, a panel of four leading historians explore the history and meaning of revolution in the modern world. The panellists are Jim Livesey (Dundee), Jake Blanc (Edinburgh), Kalathmika Natarajan (Edinburgh), and Megan Hunt (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in September 2019.

In this interview, Ljubica Spaskovska (Exeter) - who is one of our CSMCH-IASH Visiting Fellows this year - talks with Emile Chabal about her doctoral research, her current projects, and life as a foreign academic in the UK.

In this talk, Olivier Estèves (Lille) talks about his new book on bussing and the desegregation of English schools in the 1960s and 1970s. Using a range of archival and interview material, he recounts the little-known story of the thousands of predominantly Asian children who were 'dispersed' to majority white schools in an effort to improve their 'integration' into English society. The talk is followed by a short comment by Tim Peace (Glasgow). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in April 2019.

In this talk, Stefanie Gänger (Köln) explores the history of 'cinchona' or 'Peruvian bark', one of the most widely used medicines of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She looks at how knowledge about the plant travelled across continents and found its way into the medicinal practices of slaves, paupers and nobles. The talk is followed by a short comment from Sarah Easterby-Smith (St Andrews). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in March 2019.

In this talk, Ben Smith (Warwick) explores the origins of US 'war on drugs'. He locates this in a series of moral panics on either side of the Californian border between US and Mexico in the 1950s. These moral panics had a profound impact on US and Mexican politics, as well as the relationship between the two states. The talk is followed by a short comment from Jake Blanc (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in March 2019.

In this talk, Akhila Yechury (St Andrews) tells the story of the French settlements in India in the 19th and 20th centuries. She explains how their unusual legal and historical status made them into sites of contested sovereignty and overlapping colonial systems. The talk is followed by a comment from Harshan Kumarasingham (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in February 2019.