Celebrating Cultures across the University of Birmingham
Andrew, also called Saint Andrew the Apostle, (died 60/70 ce, Patras, Achaia [Greece]) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and the brother of St. Peter. He is the patron saint of Scotland and of Russia, as well as other countries including Greece, Barbados and Romania. The celebration of Saint Andrew as a national festival is thought to originate … Continue reading “St Andrew’s Day (30 Nov)”
Charles Monroe ‘Sparky’ Schulz (1922-2000) was an American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip ‘Peanuts’ which gave us Snoopy, Charlie Brown and others. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists of the modern era. Schulz loved drawing and sometimes drew his family dog, Spike, who ate unusual things, such as … Continue reading “Charles M Schulz 100th anniversary”
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual observance that honours the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honour the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who … Continue reading “Transgender Day of Remembrance (20 Nov)”
November 18 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Marcel Proust, French novelist, essayist and critic. Born in 1871 in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, Proust was a sickly child who grappled with illnesses which beset him from the age of nine until the end of his life. Despite having his education disrupted … Continue reading “A la recherche du temps perdu”
The theme for this year’s UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) is: Health and Wellbeing The pandemic across the UK and around the world has shown just how fragile are the rights disabled people have secured for themselves, with young people with learning difficulties being at the sharp end with up to 20x the death rate … Continue reading “Disability History Month UK 16 Nov-16 Dec”
Remembrance Day is an annual event, where we remember all the people who have lost their lives while serving in the armed forces. It’s also called Armistice Day or Poppy Day. It is commemorated on this day because the First World War ended “at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month”. … Continue reading “Remembrance Day (11 Nov)”
In October 2022, Dr John Goodyear took a group of students, currently taking LI English Core III – Advanced: English language and cultures (32346) Mapping the English-speaking World on the programme of English as a Modern Foreign Language (EMFL), to visit the Black Country Living Museum and the Dudley Canals and Caverns, with each of the … Continue reading “Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Canals and Caverns visit by EMFL students in the School of Languages, Cultures, Art History & Music”
Intersex Day of Remembrance, also known as Intersex Solidarity Day, is an internationally observed civil awareness day designed to highlight issues faced by intersex people. It marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a French intersex person whose memoirs were later published by Michel Foucault in Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-century French Hermaphrodite.
The Day of the Dead is a traditional holiday celebrated in Mexico and is elsewhere associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints’ Day (1 November) and All Souls’ Day (2 November). It is both a remembrance and celebration for the dearly departed. November 1, called Día de Los Inocentes, or Día de Los Angelitos, is the day … Continue reading “El Día de los Muertos”
