Early Modern Times
Early Modern Times is a blog that will seek to enlighten and entertain you with news, events, and general insight into the inner workings of the Early Modern Studies Program, or to choose an apposite metaphor, the internal mechanism which makes EMSP’s clock tick.
Early Modern Times is written by Dr. Simon Kow, Director of the Early Modern Studies Program.
Dear readers, Lovers of ancient art will be overjoyed to learn that pieces from the private Torlonia collection of marble statues, busts, reliefs, and sarcophagi are going on display in Rome. Although this important private collection began in the 19th century by Prince Alessandro Torlonia (member of the Torlonia dynasty, the Vatican's bankers) and consists…
Dear readers, As the world awaits an effective vaccine for Covid-19, which has reached--unsurprisingly--to the current occupants of the White (supremacist) House, let us return to the history of vaccinations. I sketched out the global techniques of variolation and the development of vaccination by Edward Jenner in the 18th century in this Aug. 8 issue…
Dear readers, Last month, the British Museum announced that it removed a bust of its founder Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) to a secure cabinet due to his links to colonialism and the trans-Atlantic slave-trade, reports The Guardian. How did Sloane collect the items which formed the basis of the British Museum, and how were they…
Dear readers, This is a special issue of Early Modern Times, featuring my intrepid vampire-hunting colleague Dr. Laura Van Helsing: here is a Penny for your thoughts as you begin your transformation into a Zoombie! --Simon Kow This year, I have the pleasure of inhabiting Dr. Kathryn Morris’ excellent course, The Vampire: Modernity and the…
Dear readers, Among the turmoil and tragedy that has marked this year, 2020 has also seen celebrations and tributes on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. This article notes that one piece of music by Beethoven is particularly suited to pandemical times, and the inspiration for a poem…
Dear readers, Amidst the current search for vaccines to treat Covid-19, let us consider the history of vaccination as it pertains to the early modern period. Stefan Riedl explains in his short 2005 article 'Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination' that what we call vaccination is rightly associated with English surgeon Edward…
Dear readers, My colleague Dr. Stephen Snobelen drew my attention to a recent Irish Times article by Joe Humphreys entitled, 'What to do about George Berkeley, Trinity figurehead and slave owner?' Who was George Berkeley, such that he has been lauded among the most important early modern philosophers? Was his slave-owning connected to his philosophy…
Dear readers, The explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus is very much at the heart of current debates, in the wake of protests following George Floyd's murder, over the legacy of European colonialism in the Americas. Across the United States, statues of Columbus are being torn down, with calls for Columbus Day and even places like…
Dear readers, Early Modern Times celebrates the publication of the 2020 issue of the EMSP student journal Babel (which you can read here)! Babel is written, edited, and published by the Early Modern Studies Students' Society. The 2020 issue was ready in March-April, but its physical launch has been postponed by the lockdown. As co-Editor-in-Chief…
