Programme of Talks
2026/2027
Open History Society 2026/2027
Programme
Prepare for a lineup of inspiring talks featuring distinguished speakers from diverse backgrounds. Each session promises to explore fascinating topics that deepen our understanding of history.
Friday, September 25, 2025. 7:30 PM
Dr Karine Varley (Strathclyde University)
Paul Addison Memorial lecture: Dr Karine Varley (Strathclyde University) “The Allied Bombing of France in WWII”
Friday, October 30, 2025. 7:30 PM
Howard Amos, author and journalist
Howard Amos, author and journalist, will talk about his book, Russia Starts Here, which offers a critical perspective of modern Russia through the prism of the Pskov Region in the far west of the country.
Friday, November 27, 2025. 7:30 PM
Professor Enda Delaney
Professor Enda Delaney on his new book on the modernisation of Ireland. Using examples like the Irish language shift, changes in popular consumption, the decline of oral culture and the loss of vernacular modes of thought, Professor Delaney asks if the ‘cognitive revolution’ should be added to the revolutions that shaped modern Ireland?
December 2026
Members' Christmas Get-together
More information TBA
Friday, January 28, 2027. 7:30 PM
Dr Andrew Sanders (De Montfort University)
Dr Andrew Sanders (De Montfort University) investigates the ways that the UK sought to tackle internal conflict across various colonial theatres during the post-WWII period.
Friday, February 26, 2027. 7:30 PM
Dr Steven Veerapen (Strathclyde University)
Dr Steven Veerapen (Strathclyde University) traces witches, witchcraft and witch-hunters from the mass-trials under James VI & I in the late 16th century to the end of witch-hunting in the early 18th century.
Friday, March 26, 2027. 7:30 PM
Dr Hugh Hagan
Dr Hugh Hagan (recently retired from National Records of Scotland) on the Clydeside shipbuilding community and role of women. This talk explores the community from the perspective of its women. Drawing on original interviews, it reflects on the role of oral history in introducing voices neglected by the formal record.
Friday, April 30, 2027. 7:30 PM
Ian Garden - Author, Military Historian and Speaker
Ian Garden is an expert and author on war-propaganda films. He will discuss the classic 1942 film, Casablanca, its key actors and actresses, its creation, its promotion, and its intended purpose and influence a year after the USA entered the Second World War. The talk will include clips from the film.
Date and Time
Next Meeting
Planning for the 27/28 season of talks already underway! Watch this space.
Explore
Speakers
.......have included eminent academics, published authors, documentary producers, historical novelists, postgraduate researchers and Open History Society members. The subject matter may be anything from the Falklands War to medieval women, from Hugh MacDiarmid to Eamon De Valera, from Nazi feature films to Sicilian cultural history, from Bannockburn to Verdun.