Politics and International Relations Taster Lecture

Speaker: Dr Callum Barrell, Associate Professor of Political Thought

Date: Thursday 11th November, 4:30 – 5:30pm (GMT)

It is a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to study the history of ideas, and what, for that matter, does it mean to study the history of political ideas? How should they be interpreted, conceptualised, and made use of? Does it make sense to say that ideas have histories? Do ideas even matter given the unprecedentedness of many contemporary problems?

Drawing on the history of political thought, this taster lecture will interactively explore the ways in which the political present relates to its intellectual past, raising larger questions about essences and contexts, and gesturing towards the skills of undergraduate study. Furthermore, it will give you an impression not of a one-way lecture but of a voluntarily interactive seminar.

This taster will also include an introductory overview of studying at NCH, and there will be ample time for Q&A with Faculty and Student Ambassadors.