Our guest blogger this week is Angelica Baschiera of the Centre of African Studies who recently led a workshop on Swahili manuscripts held in the SOAS Archives. As part of this year’s SOAS Summer School ‘Understanding Africa’ organised by the Centre of African studies and convened by Dr Seraphin Kamdem, a workshop was dedicated to the SOAS Swahili manuscripts collection on 21 July 2015. Ms Angelica Baschiera, Manager of the
We were delighted to welcome the new Swire Graduate Recruits at the end of August for a visit to the Archives. This is an annual event where recently appointed Swire staff are invited to participate in a series of seminars held at SOAS over three days. The seminars aim to introduce the new recruits to the history and culture of the countries where they are to be posted overseas. The
In the lead-up to the SOAS Centenary in 2016, we will be taking a look at the history of the School through collections held at SOAS Archives. This week, the School’s Corporate Records Manager & Archivist, Adele Picken, looks at the papers of Ralph Lilley Turner, second Director of the School of Oriental Studies (later School of Oriental & African Studies), 1937-1957. Ralph Lilley Turner was a renowned Indologist and became the second Director
SOAS Archives is pleased to announce that the archive of the Churches of Christ Missionary Committee is now available to researchers (Ref: CoC). The collection was deposited at SOAS Library by the United Reformed Church History Society in May 2015, and adds to the significant range of missionary collections held by the Archives & Special Collections department. Our thanks go to Margaret Thompson, former Archivist at Westminster College, Cambridge, who has
This week’s blog reflects on a conference held at the University of Copenhagen, 27th-29th April this year, entitled ‘Colonial Christian Missions and their Legacies’. One of our archivists, Jo Ichimura, looks back at the themes and highlights of the conference, which has particular relevance for the many researchers who come in to use the extensive missionary collections held by SOAS Archives. “How are colonial Christian missions remembered or memorialized in
SOAS Archives is pleased to announce that the papers of the anthropologist and museum curator Dr Johanna Agthe (1940-2005) are now available to researchers at SOAS Library, University of London. The following biographical overview of Johanna Aghte and description of her papers (Ref: MS 381135) is taken from the catalogue overview authored by Elsbeth Court (SOAS Subject Lecturer in African Art). SOAS Archives would like to acknowledge Elsbeth’s excellent work
This week’s blog has been written by Mary Seeley, Subject Librarian (History & Religions, Ancient Near East, Semitics & Judaica) at SOAS. The Hebraica Libraries Group is a joint forum of libraries in the field of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, ranging from major university collections in the UK such as SOAS, Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, and Southampton to specialist collections like the Wiener Library and private religious colleges and institutions such
To coincide with Christian Aid Week 2015 (10-16 May), our guest blog this week is by Jack Arthey, 70th Anniversary Project Manager at Christian Aid. Jack explains the work Christian Aid are undertaking to tell the story of their organisation and its work; including producing an interactive timeline of the history of the NGO, showcasing a selection of posters, photographs and videos. Jack Arthey writes: “To mark the 70th anniversary of
[Note: This blog may contain the names and images of deceased Aboriginal people] “When the British ships arrived, there were about 270 different Aboriginal languages in Australia. Today, only about 60 or 70 are spoken on a daily basis. Of these, roughly half a dozen are considered to be strong and are being passed from adults to their children, according to John Hobson, a lecturer at Sydney University.” (Source: BBC news
In the lead-up to the SOAS Centenary in 2016, we will be taking a look at the history of the School through collections held at SOAS Archives. This week, the School’s Corporate Records Manager & Archivist, Adele Picken, looks at the papers of Edward Denison Ross, first Director of the School of Oriental Studies (later School of Oriental & African Studies), 1917-1938. Denison Ross was born in London on 6
