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GNE-Events

John McAleer

Scheepvaartmuseum: Monsoon Traders: Britain, Asia and the East India Company

Itinerary:

Zaterdag 29 september in het Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam.


John McAleer
John Mcaleer is Curator of Imperial and Maritime History in Greenwich (London). He tries to convey the importance of imperial and maritime history using the rich and unique collections of objects and artefacts held at the National Maritime Museum. He does this in all sorts of ways from working on exhibitions and publishing scholarly articles to giving lectures and facilitating education sessions.

He contributes regularly to conferences and journals by giving papers and writing articles and reviews related to my area of expertise.

He regards the most rewarding and favourite part of his job the opportunity to work in a setting that encapsulates so much history. From the maritime and imperial history showcased in the Museum, to the artistic and architectural significance of the Queen’s House and the scientific stories displayed at the Royal Observatory, one gets indeed a real sense of their collective importance to British and world history.
He regards the best thing about his job the opportunity to work with fascinating artefacts and, if lucky, to find out something significant and interesting about them.
John McAleer is the author of Representing Africa: landscape, exploration and empire in southern Africa, 1780–1870 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010) and (with H. V. Bowen and Robert J. Blyth) Monsoon traders: the maritime world of the East India Company (London: Scala, 2011). He is currently editing a collection of essays on the subject of Curat-ing empire, which seeks to explore the impact of global connections, networks and experiences on people in a range of societies through the medium of museums and collections. Under the auspices of the NMM’s Centre for Imperial and Maritime Studies, he is involved in a range of publication, exhibition and research projects, includ-ing the Museum’s permanent gallery on the East India Company.


This event is a coproduction between John McAleer and Leonard Blussé.

Leonard Blussé
Leonard Blussé is sinoloog en historicus Westers-Aziatische betrekkingen en een vooraanstaand China-deskundige. Hij is gastdocent aan vele binnen- en buitenlandse universiteiten en symposia. Leonard Blussé is een groot kenner van de geschiedenis van de VOC. Van zijn hand verschenen twee non-fictie boeken, ‘Bitters Bruid’, een koloniaal huwelijksdrama in de gouden eeuw en ‘Retour Amoy’. Voor Bitters Bruid ontving Blussé een Gouden Uil in de categorie non-fictie in 1998.
Voor Comenius reist Leonard mee tijdens de Chinese Comenius Course.

Meer informatie op de website van Leiden.


Monsoon Traders: Britain, Asia and the East India Company

The Honourable East India Company, with its headquarters in London, was one of the most powerful commercial endeavours the world has ever seen. From its modest origins as an Elizabethan trading venture, the Company developed into a huge global corporation. For nearly 250 years, it controlled Britain’s maritime trade with Asia. This lecture will tell the maritime story of the East India Company. It is one of wealth, power and the pursuit of fortune. But it is also a story of conflict, conquest and piracy on the high seas. The scale and impact of the Company’s activities changed the lives of millions of people in Britain and Asia: it changed what people ate and drank, how they dressed, their attitudes to other people and societies, and it laid the foundations for Britain’s nineteenth-century empire in India.

The lecture will explore the Company’s origins and its early encounters with Asia, as well as its rise to wealth and trading pre-eminence. It will also examine war, conflict and empire in Asia, and the circumstances of the Company’s ultimate demise. The lecture will be illustrated throughout with images from the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich – many of which are now on display in the Museum’s new permanent gallery dedicated to the East India Company (more details available on our website:visit/exhibitions/traders)

 

Het betreft een coproductie met de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Zeegeschiedenis en de Vereeniging Nederlandsch Historisch Scheepvaart Museum. Maximaal 20 GNE leden kunnen, zonder bijkomende kosten, deelnemen aan deze coproductie.

Het programma:
 

13.30 ontvangst met koffie met taart
14:00 lezing door John McAleer
15.15 lezing door prof. dr. L. Blussè over de VOC (als co-referent)
16:00 discussie onderling en met de zaal
16.30 aangeklede borrel
17:00 sluiting.


Kosten € 15,- p.p. (te betalen bij aankomst).

GNE leden dienen zich tevoren aan te melden bij Monty Kraayeveld (voor mailadres zie de afdeling GNE Amsterdam).

Leden met een museumkaart kunnen natuurlijk zelf al eerder komen, als ze willen.

Klik op de foto van het binnenplein van het scheepvaartmuseum voor meer informatie over het museum:

 


 
events

During the GNE lecture season, events are regularly held and talks are given about once a month and unless otherwise stated, these are delivered in English. The visiting speakers are all experts in their chosen fields and their lectures are both informative and entertaining. They may feature different aspects of British life, arts and culture, places and people. Occasionally we are also treated to a traveller`s tale. Wherever possible, lectures are illustrated.
An overview of this year`s programme is given below. For more details on our events and talks please click events & talks. For the full programme with dates, venues and entry fees per branch, please click branches.

 
John-Wyatt:

JOHN WYATT is a specialist in African birds and animals having worked for 12 years in Northern Rhodesia/Zambia. In 1971 he began lecturing on wildlife and archaeological subjects and has now given over 3000 such talks. He co-authored and published the highly acclaimed British Teach Yourself Bird Sounds cassette series and led wildlife tours to many parts of the World but especially Africa and The Netherlands. At present the World`s only full-time Ornitho-Egyptologist undertaking research in Egypt and elsewhere for a book on Birds in Ancient Egypt : A Guide to their Identification which is scheduled for publication in August 2012.

Birds in Ancient EgyptMore information...
Hadrian`s WallMore information...
 
Ian White:

Ian White is a retired research scientist, who worked on computer and communications systems, but developed an interest in horology over twenty years ago. This includes its science, its history, and the social role of time.
He has earlier published a history of the Watch and Clockmakers in the City of Bath. Click clock-makers-at -batth for more information.
He has also advised Sotheby’s in 2010 on the history of a clock they recently sold (for $520,000).
He has worked in The Hague for four years, (1993–1997).
 

The Life and work of James CoxMore information...
 
John Cameron-Webb:
Operation Market GardenMore information...
 
John Pilkington:

John Pilkington has been called “one of Britain’s greatest tellers of travellers’ tales”.
In 1983, after journeys in Africa and Latin America, he completed a 500-mile solo crossing of the western Nepal Himalaya, and told the story in his first book, Into Thin Air. His interest in Asia grew further with the opening in 1986 of the border between Pakistan and China, making it possible – for the first time in forty years – to retrace virtually the whole of the Silk Road. John was one of the first modern travellers to do so, and he wrote about the journey in An Adventure on the Old Silk Road. This was followed in 1991 by An Englishman in Patagonia; recounting eight months spent exploring the southernmost tip of South America.
In 2000 he became one of only four people in modern times to walk the 1,600-mile Royal Road of the Incas in the Andes of Ecuador and Peru. In 2003 he explored the Mekong River and, with two Tibetans, reached and mapped its source at over 17,000 feet. In 2006 he turned his attention to the Sahara Desert, and joined a camel caravan carrying salt for 450 miles from the mines of Taoudenni to Timbuktu.

Georgia to AfghanistanMore information...
 
Florian Schweizer:

Dr Florian Schweizer is Director of the Charles Dickens Museum and leads the global Dickens 2012 campaign.
He studied in Germany and Britain and holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of London. He has worked at the Charles Dickens Museum since 2002 and is now managing a major redevelopment project which will establish the Museum as the most accessible literary museum in England. He has published and lectured widely on Dickens, the Victorians and British culture.

Wonderful Things: Museums and Galleries in LondonMore information...
 
Anne Marie Evans:

Anne Marie Evans MA FLS earned a Distinction in Fine Art at the ‘Bath Academy of Art’ and, then studied for a Masters at the ‘De Montfort University’, also graduating with a Distinction.  She is a world-famous artist who originally developed the English Gardening school’s - Diploma Course in Botanical Painting. She teaches worldwide and is co-author of An Approach to Botanical Painting.
For details see: Teaching and learning art with Anne Marie Evans and English Gardening School

Mrs Evans will try to bring the Highgrove Florilegium for the audience to see.

The History of FlorilegiaMore information...
 
Julian Paren:

Julian Paren is a physicist by training with a PhD in glaciology awarded by the University of Cambridge for research on the electrical properties of ice carried out at the Scott Polar Research Institute.  After a spell as Nuffield Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham he joined the British Antarctic Survey in 1976 and made nine visits to Antarctica.  In his later years at BAS he was Director’s Assistant and Head of Information and Archives.  Throughout his time at BAS and in retirement he ran adult-education courses for the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning.

A photographic evening: Going South - the Antartic ExperienceMore information...
Exploring the Islands and western coast of ScotlandMore information...
Travelling the Western Isles of ScotlandMore information...
 
John McAleer:

John McAleer is Curator of Imperial and Maritime History in Greenwich (London).
He tries to convey the importance of imperial and maritime history using the rich and unique collections of objects and artefacts held at the National Maritime Museum. He does this in all sorts of ways from working on exhibitions and publishing scholarly articles to giving lectures and facilitating education sessions. He contributes regularly to conferences and journals by giving papers and writing articles and reviews related to my area of expertise.
 

Monsoon Traders: Britain, Asia and the East India CompanyMore information...
Scheepvaartmuseum: Monsoon Traders: Britain, Asia and the East India CompanyMore information...