Event Date: 7 July 2012
The Council Room
Birkbeck College, University of London,
London WC1E 7HX.
The Pears Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism
presents:
NORMAN COHN FBA – A COLLOQUIUM
Programme:
Welcome by Robert Baldock (Yale University Press).
Session 1
PURSUIT OF THE MILLENNIUM: Millenarian Movements in the Medieval & Early Modern Period
Introduction by Professor John Arnold (Birkbeck)
Professor William Lamont (Sussex): Norman Cohn: the career
Professor Dame Jinty Nelson (King’s College London): Norman Cohn and medieval history
Professor Lorenzo DiTommaso (Concordia University, Montreal): Pursuit of the Millennium: A Half-Century On
Session 1 discussion:
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Session 2
WARRANT FOR GENOCIDE: Totalitarianism and Political Religion
Introduction by Professor Frank Chalk (Concordia University, Montreal).
Professor John Gray (formerly LSE): Apocalyptic Politics’ (both Pursuit of the Millennium and Warrant for Genocide?
Professor Daniel Pick ( Birkbeck): Norman Cohn & the Columbus Centre
Session 2 discussion:
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Session 3
EUROPE’S INNER DEMONS: The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom
Inrtoduction by Dr Anthony Bale (Birkbeck).
Professor David Feldman (Director, Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, Birkbeck): Norman Cohn and anti-Semitism
Paul Lay (Editor, History Today; Senior Research Fellow, Humanities Research Institute, University of Buckingham): Norman Cohn and Europe
Professor Frank Chalk (Concordia University and Director, the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies)Montreal): Norman Cohn’s approach to the Early Modern State and the Significance of Torture
Session 3 discussion:
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Session 4
NORMAN COHN THE MAN, THE LATER WORK
Introduction by Dr Michael Briant (Cambridge).
A open discussion with questions and comments on the issues that have come up during the day, including the issue of the legitimacy of using psychoanalytic insights in the study of historical phenomena, or their value in illuminating current socio-political problems.
Contributions from:
Sham Ambiavagar:
Lorenzo DiTommaso:
and a roundtable discussion:
To close the day some recollections of Norman Cohn by Dr Marina Voikhanskaya (Cambridge) in conversation
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The Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
“The relationship between antisemitism and other forms of racism and exclusion is not only a historical question. It is an urgent issue for today.” Professor David Feldman, Director.
The Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism was established by the Pears Foundation and is based at Birkbeck, University of London. It is a centre of innovative research and teaching, contributing to discussion and policy formation on antisemitism as well as other forms of racial prejudice and intolerance. It is both independent and inclusive.
