MyGlasgow News

The University of Glasgow’s Centre for Open Learning, in partnership with The Merchants House, presented a short series of November lunchtime talks in The Merchants House of Glasgow. This innovative venture to bring a variety of topics at university level to the members of the Merchants House and to members of the public was very well received and will be followed up with a second series of lunch-time talks in February this year.

The talks included:

• The Glasgow Boys by Dr Maureen Park. Maureen introduced the Glasgow Boys, explaining who they were, what they were trying to achieve in their art and why they were so innovative for Scottish painting. From a goose girl to a tennis party, and from a highland funeral to Druids bringing in the mistletoe, all was revealed!
• Hieroglyphs in an hour by Dr Angela McDonald covered a very interesting subject in a clear and fun way. First the audience was taught how words are put together in ancient Egyptian – either by direct representation by one sign, or by a combination of sound signs spelling a word out paired with one or more ‘mute’ meaning signs indicating a word’s meaning. With the help of a handy hieroglyphic alphabet sheet, they were then ready to start reading words in ancient Egyptian and translating them. By the end of the hour, it was clear that the Egyptians put a lot of themselves into their words – not just meaning, but thoughts and feelings about their world and their experience of it.
• How should we remember President Kennedy? by Dr Robert Hamilton in what was the 50th anniversary week of JFK's assasination. In considering the early life of JFK, Dr Hamilton recalled President Kennedy's visit to Glasgow in 1939 to meet the American survivors of the Athenia which had been sunk by a German submarine.  Dr Hamilton argued that whilst many people remain interested in JFK, his private life, and the assassination...the successes and failures of his presidency are often ignored. It was argued that President Kennedy helped to sow the seeds of what became the War on Poverty and the Great Society under the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. 
• Everything you always wanted to know about learning a foreign language (at any age) but were afraid to ask! This was a very interactive and entertaining talk by Dr Liam Kane. Liam told a story in Spanish to demonstrate how we can understand much in another language if sufficient clues are in the background, discussed different strategies for learning a language, challenged the notion we become less able to learn  as we grow older, explored how our memory works and hopefully taught those present some vocabulary they will never forget. 

Roderick Macpherson of the Merchants House said: “The Merchants House is delighted to host these very entertaining Town and Gown lectures. What an excellent use for our beautiful hall: to be Glasgow's welcoming place for scholars and the curious public, in search of the most improving, slimming lunch-hour (there's no food!) in town”.

For more information on the February series of talks please call: 0141 330 1835.

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First published: 20 December 2013