Friday 22nd Seminar: Source interpreting

Friday seminar blog

The main lecturer for this session was unavailable today. This session allowed me to be able to locate sources (Journals, academic papers, books) and analyse them in order to decide whether the author or the paper is accurate and authentic which will help me with my essays. This was made possible using a selection of questions which analysed the document and directed me to any important issues about its content and/or the author.

One criticism about this seminar was the fact that the stand in lecturer gave out random sources regarding society in London. The negative point about this is that the sources were not relevant to my essay topic which is London at war in World War Two. However, it shows that at university, students are not spoon fed and the lecturer has provided us with tools, i.e, the ability and knowledge to verify our own sources.

For the rest of the seminar, the lecturer was providing me with tips about where to find good sources to inform my essay and was talking about how to make a bibliography and how to make footnotes. This is beneficial to me at present because i am used to simply inserting a quote into my paragraphs and saying where this quote came from within the same sentence due to the recent lectures about the Timed Critical Analysis format in the other history modules.

25th November, Parks and Gardens lecture

Monday's lecture on Parks, Gardens and Squares of London, 1650-1901

This lecture was beneficial to me as i understood from it that London politics were changing in this period of time. The green spaces and spots of relaxation were open for everybody, rich and poor, old and young. These areas of London served as a way to unify the locals of London. Before, during the period of the Great Fire for example, there was a huge gap between rich and poor.

10th March London: West Indians in London

This lecture focused on the history of immigration into London and the problems that the immigrants faced as they tried to settle in London. This was beneficial to my knowledge about diversity and people's attitudes aurrounding it in London. It gave me  important understanding that is needed today as London is now a fully multi-cultural city with so many races and languages spoken in the capital.

March 31st London Lecture: Unable to attend

Unfortunately I fell ill on this day due to food poisoning. I felt that this hindered my progress and I will make sure I  can attend all in the future.

7th April 2014 London: Sin City: 1950-1970. The swinging city of delights and depravity

This lecture took place at a useful time for me personally as i had been part of a group presentation for this module concerning London in the Blitz of World War Two which occured a few years before this lecture's time span in the early 1940's. The lecture gave me an insight into post-war London social life.

10th March, Immigration to London task: Bengali community

For this task i am focusing on the South Asian community but particularly, the Bangladesh community who settled in London in the middle of the twentieth century.
Bangladesh was a region of British ruled Pakistan and did not gain independence until 1971.
The motivation for Bengali people to leave the state of Pakistan for London was diverse; but usually people wanted one or more of these targets: To gain qualifications, seek legal redress, obtain employment, promote a social or political cause or to seek adventure.
Initially it was mostly working men who made the trip to London, their dependents followed later and they reformed as families in London.
One South Asian writer described the sheer determination of the Bengali and other South Asian peoples in his book Migrant Journeys. "Whether hidden under crate boxes of frozen fish in big lorries or spat on to a deserted beach like washed-up drowned men with itineraries in their pockets, we got here one way or the other. What none of us knew was how to go back".
On arrival the Bengali faced many obstacles including overcrowded houses, language and cultural barriers which made it hard to go into higher education. Some discovered the harsh reality that their qualifications were not recognised in Britain and had to take training again. Life in London as not as smooth as anticipated.

Slavery: London Histories

This image shows a Wedgewood sugar bowl. It is interesting because sugar was an important commodity on slave plantations in the Americas. As such the object is connected with slavery through its aesthetics (it shows a slave) and its purpose.


This picture shows William Wilberforce. He was an MP who campaigned for the abolition of slavery. In his struggle, he collaborated with 'The Sons of Africa' who were an organization of black Africans in London.


This is a picture of Ignatius Sancho. As a child he enjoyed a good education in London and became a playwright and a theatre critic.


Above is a commemorative coin which celebrates the abolition of slavery, in 1807. However laws abolishing slavery in the British Empire did not occur until 1833.


Above is an image of 'Uncle Tom'. The character is from a novel, but today the term is used to describe slaves who identify with their masters.