The Influence of History in Public Life
Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, joined Peter Hennessy, Quentin Skinner, and Baroness O’Neill, to consider the ‘Influence of History in Public Life’ from ethical, scholarly, sociological, and political perspectives.
The seminar, organised by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the British Academy, reflected on the role of individual and collective historical consciousness in forming public attitudes and values, and in informing political decisions. Questions discussed included:
- Does history have enough of a role in our public discourse?
- Is history misunderstood more dangerous to our culture than historical amnesia?
- What is the place of myth for national cohesion?
- Is politics sufficiently informed by a shared understanding of aspects of the national past?
- Would a better knowledge of history enhance civic life?
- Who is responsible for the communication of historical knowledge in public life?
In prompting these questions, our panel and an audience of historians and teachers, politicians, policy specialists, journalists, and curators considered how aspects of public life might benefit if informed by the liberal, free and untrammelled study of history.
While the seminar did not focus specifically on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the subject of history in public life is central to a publication and project which seeks to make all aspects of the nation’s history accessible to the widest public readership.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Published:
20 October 2005
- For further details please contact the Oxford DNB’s Publication Editor, Dr Philip Carter philip.carter@oup.com/ 01865 355036
- All the speakers are Fellows of the British Academy. Professor Quentin Skinner is Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge; Professor Peter Hennessy is Attlee Professor of Contemporary History at Queen Mary College, University of London; Baroness O’Neill is President of the British Academy and Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge.
- The Archbishop and Baroness O'Neill are both authors of entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The Archbishop also acted as an adviser for the Dictionary's coverage of the modern Anglican clergy. The Oxford DNB was compiled by 10,000 authors worldwide; their work was overseen by nearly 400 external advisers and an in-house research and publishing staff in Oxford.
- The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a collection of 55,000 lives of the men and women who shaped all aspects of the British past from the ‘earliest times’ to 2001. The new dictionary was published by Oxford University Press in print (60 volumes) and online in September 2004. From January 2005 the Dictionary publishes three online updates each year which add new biographies and reference material for research. The Oxford DNB is the product of research instituted by the University of Oxford and funded by the British Academy (1992-2004) and by Oxford University Press. In addition to its 55,000 lives, the Dictionary includes more than 10,000 portrait illustrations, researched in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, London. The Dictionary’s Editor is Dr Lawrence Goldman, fellow and tutor in modern history, St Peter’s College, Oxford. More information about the Dictionary may be found at: http://www.oxforddnb.com
- The British Academy is the National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Established by Royal Charter in 1902, the British Academy is an independent learned society promoting the humanities and social sciences. It is composed of Fellows elected in recognition of their distinction as scholars in the humanities and social sciences. More information about the Academy may be found at: http://www.britac.ac.uk