But James Stirling's pioneering modernist design is now thirty years old. This summer sees the culmination of a two-year rewiring programme, which permits a dramatic expansion of the IT facilities. Dr Vic Gatrell will start a new course entitled The Politics of Laughter . English satirical prints of Hogarth, Gillray and others will be used to explore social values and political commentary in the period 1730-1840. The heart of the course is an on-line data base of some 1,300 images prepared with the help of the Faculty's computer officer.
Innovative teaching takes many forms.
Twice a week the Faculty Board Room echoes to the sounds of grand opera as Professor Tim Blanning relates Richard Wagner's music to the dynamics of modern German history, treating the composer as social critic and not just creative genius. In another popular third-year course, Professor Peter Clarke explains the political economy of Thatcherism with videos of Commons debates as well as the memoirs of the Iron Lady and her more brittle ministers. And in The Vikings in Europe, 800-1100 Professor Rosamond McKitterick provides the obligatory blood and guts while also using chronicles, coins, and archaeology to examine the more constructive side of the Norsemen. As befits a research university, teaching often flows out of scholarship. Dr Simon Szreter has been awarded an ESRC research fellowship, allowing three years to further his project on sexuality and marriage in Britain between the world wars.