The Cassandra Syndrome, or the Cassandra Phenomenon, refers to traumatic stress which affects people who are in a relationship with someone on the autism spectrum. In November's Open Research Forum Deborah Lawrence draws on her personal experience of relationships with people on the autism spectrum. She will explore the intimate and domestic aspect of these relationships can be supported through a distinctive approach from that usually adopted in the counselling of couples. This topic will be of particular interest to…

The 1919 Report on Adult Education The 1919 Report laid the foundations for university adult education in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was seen as "inseparable" from citizenship, and vital to how the state wanted to reconstruct the country after the war. What happened next? What happened next in Leicester? Rob Colls will open the history in order to discuss the consequences. Register on Eventbrite >> About Our December Speaker Robert Colls is Professor of Cultural History, International Centre…

Picture credit: Photo of Alec born at 23 weeks aged 9 days old and being held by his mum. Photo kindly provided by his parents. Lessons from Neonatal Research: A Presentation by Dr Sarah Seaton Our presenter for the January Vaughan Open Research Forum session is Dr Sarah Seaton, Perinatal and paediatric researcher. After birth around 1 in 8 babies require specialist care in neonatal units. For babies born too soon, the time they require in hospital can be very…

Our topic this month is "Womanly wickedness in West Midland medieval wall paintings: picking titles and communicating research in Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon". Medieval wall paintings aren't easy to interpret. They are often fragmentary or compromised by later interventions. The meaning of their imagery is often contested, even the titles we select can skew interpretation. This research forum looks at two projects based in important sites in the West Midlands (Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon) to explore how art historical methods can be…

Bodice-rippers and Chained Books: The History of the Book You might think of libraries being rather quiet demure places, filled with dead trees rotting slowly, but print history takes us to some quite risqué places. Think about those second-hand copies of Lady Chatterley’s Lover of a certain vintage which fall open at a particular page. In this workshop you will choose from a selection of episodes in print history, including bodice-rippers (romance novels), punk zines, valuable books chained to desks, and…

The Lost Ideas of 19th-Century Radical Socialist Education: From "Human Nature" to Culture-Building Due to social distancing measures, this session will take place via video conference. The video conference will run from 6 pm - 7:30 pm. Details will be sent on the day to people who have registered via Eventbrite.  Our May Open Research Forum is on the topic of Co-operative Character and will be presented by Yaron Golan, Manchester Metropolitan University. Early Co-operators were among the first in…

Due to social distancing measures, this session will take place via video conference. The video conference will run from 6 pm – 7:30 pm. Details will be sent on the day to people who have registered via Eventbrite.  Download Supporting Materials Josh has kindly put together some supporting materials and extracts which he will refer to in his presentation. If you would like to read these ahead of the session, please download the PDF here. About the June Forum Our June…