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SUMMARY:From 'clap-trap and flummery' to 'scope and methods' – the Royal
  Geographical Society's lantern-slide lectures\, c.1886–1924 - Emily Hay
 es (University of Exeter)
DTSTART:20151130T130000Z
DTEND:20151130T141500Z
UID:TALK60883@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:39097
DESCRIPTION:Founded in 1830\, the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) was con
 ceived to promote 'that most important and entertaining branch of knowledg
 e\, geography'. Across the 19th century the RGS attempted to hold within i
 ts centre a diverse demographic of practitioners of science\, explorers an
 d audiences eager for 'red hot tales of adventure'. From the pre-magic lan
 tern era to the provision of instruction in photography in 1886\, the subs
 equent authorization of the much-debated medium of the lantern\, and diver
 sification of lecture practices\, this talk traces some of the multiple re
 gisters in which geographical knowledge was communicated. In order to brin
 g to light the 'overlooked images' and 'suspended conversations' of the RG
 S lantern-slide lectures\, I outline three case studies of lantern-slide l
 ectures given by Halford Mackinder\, Vaughan Cornish and Julia Henshaw. Th
 ese examples\, I argue\, illustrate the RGS's tailoring of geographical kn
 owledge to the audiences of its own Fellowship\, practitioners of science 
 and children. I demonstrate that the RGS lantern-slide lectures were 'thre
 shold' sites through which geographical knowledge and practices\, a spectr
 um of sciences and diverse RGS communities circulated. I suggest that the 
 synergy of the perceived effects of lantern projections and the spoken wor
 d were a galvanizing force that expanded the geographical imaginary. In do
 ing so I bring to light the Society's history as centripete and centrifuge
  of individuals and ideas\, and science and culture.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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