Horrible Histories for Grown Ups - Evening Class

This 5-week course looks at all the gruesome parts of history you weren't taught in school!
About this Event

Horrible Histories for Grown Ups - Evening Class

Join historian Dr Robyn Atcheson for a 5 week course on the gruesome parts of history you weren't taught in school.

Each week will take a different theme and deep dive into topics associated with that theme.

Topics will include the Great Stink, body-snatching, syphilis, public executions, the invention of underwear, common poisons and lots more guts and gore.

Participants will receive a primary sourcebook full of contemporary sources from centuries ago which will help shape each week's discussion. No prior knowledge is necessary.

This course is not just about learning something new from an expert in social history but also about connecting with lesser-known histories, sharing stories and chat with each other and investigating using contemporary historical documents.

If you are interested in social, medical and cultural history, this course will open your eyes (and other senses) to the past.

The course will begin on Wednesday 21st October and will end on Wednesday 18th November, meeting weekly at 7pm.

This course has sold out at Queen's University for 4 consecutive years - now Robyn is bringing it out of the university and to the public in the historic venue of Templemore Baths Boardroom.

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Tea & coffee provided.

Anonymous testimonials of 'Horrible Histories for Grown Ups'

"Enjoyable and educational"

"Brilliant course, thoroughly enjoyable, just wish it had been longer."

"This is my 2nd course with Dr Robyn & am looking forward to doing more. She is a passionate historian, very knowledgeable & has a very relaxed lecturing style."

Agenda

🕑: 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Week 1 - Sight - Wednesday 21st October

Info: Week 1 looks at topics relating to horrible and unusual Sights. We will cover sights like public executions and gruesome displays, the marvels of the Victorian circus and freak shows and the most famous ghost sightings in Britain and Ireland.

🕑: 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Week 2 - Sound - Wednesday 28th October

Info: Week 2 focuses on the Sounds from history. We will cover the traditional way most people learned about news and scandal, the whisper campaigns which led to accusations of witchcraft and the horrific crashes experienced during Ireland's only recorded hurricane.

🕑: 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Week 3 - Smell - Wednesday 4th November

Info: Week 3 begins with an exploration of the idea that bad Smells could transmit disease and looks at how Smell was the reasoning behind many public health measures from the 17th century on. We will also cover the Victorian Great Stink & the business of perfumery.

🕑: 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Week 4 - Touch - Wednesday 11th November

Info: Week 4 deals with Touch throughout the centuries. Topics will include the belief that touching a dead body could cure certain diseases, how sexually transmitted infections were dealt with and the invention of underwear.

🕑: 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Week 5 - Taste - Wednesday 18th November

Info: Week 5 finishes with our last sense, Taste. This week will cover some horrible and some not-so-horrible Tastes, including poisonings both accidental and murderous, the development of medicines & the 18th-century Gin Craze and subsequent Gin Panic.