ESSHC 2012
Special Events
Guided tours of Glasgow Museums
You can sign up for (self-) guided tours of Glasgow Museums by sending an e-mail to ehi@iisg.nl before 1 April 2012 (the only option for the Tuesday tours) or at the conference desk during the conference for the Friday tours.
NB: You have to arrange your own transport. See museum website's for more info on how to get there.
All venues have shops and cafes
- Scotland Street School
What?
A self-guided tour of the museum with an introduction by a member of staff. Maximum number 20 participants (minimum 10) The introduction will take about 15 minutes.
When?
Tuesday 10 April, 3 pm and Friday 13 April, 3 pm.
Scotland Street School was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Glasgow's most celebrated architect, and Scotland Street School was a functioning school up until 1979. It is now a museum, telling the story of school education in Scotland over a hundred years, from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. The building is a wonderful example of Macintosh's architectural style and the displays include a Mackintosh room where you can study the architect's designs for the building. You can also see what school days were like in the reign of Queen Victoria, during World War II, and in the 1950s and 60s, in our three reconstructed classrooms. The museum regularly hosts temporary exhibitions and fun family events.
Scotland Street School Museum,
225 Scotland St,
Glasgow, G5 8QB
Opening hours: Monday CLOSED, 10am-5pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday 11am-5pm Friday, Sunday
- St Mungo Museum and Provand's Lordship
What?
A guided tour of the museum. Maximum number of participants 20. The tour will take approx. 1 hour.
When?
Tuesday 10 April, 2 pm and Friday 13 April 2 pm.
The award-winning St Mungo Museum explores the importance of religion in peoples' lives across the world and across time. The venue aims to promote understanding and respect between people of different faiths and of none, and offers something for everyone. You can find out more about some of the world's major religions, and the story of religion in the west of Scotland. St Mungo Museum regularly hosts temporary exhibitions and a variety of events, from family-friendly activities to talks relating to religion in Scotland today. The museum sits across from Provand's Lordship - the oldest house in Glasgow - and alongside the medieval Glasgow Cathedral.
St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
2 Castle St
Glasgow G4 0RH
Opening hours: Monday CLOSED, Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday 10am-5pm, Friday and Sunday 11am-5pm
- Peoples Palace
What?
A self-guided tour of the museum with an introduction by a member of staff. Maximum number of participants 20, (minimum 10)
When?
Tuesday 10 April, 1 pm. The introduction will take about 10-15 minutes, allowing for questions about the museum and Glasgow Museums collections.
The People's Palace, set in historic Glasgow Green, tells the story of the people and city of Glasgow from 1750 to the end of the 20th century.
Explore the city's social history through a wealth of historic artefacts, paintings, prints and photographs, film and interactive computer displays. Get a wonderful insight into how Glaswegians lived, worked and played in years gone by.
In the adjacent Winter Gardens you can wander among the exotic palms and plants or enjoy a coffee or lunch at the café. Outside, you can admire the restored Doulton Fountain and relax in the attractive surroundings of Glasgow Green, the oldest public space in Glasgow.
People's Palace and Winter Gardens
Glasgow Green, Glasgow G40 1AT
0141 276 0789
museums@glasgowlife.org.uk
Opening Hours People's Palace: Monday CLOSED, Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday 10am-5pm, Friday and Sunday 11am-5pm. The Winter Gardens is open 10am-5pm daily
General Meeting, Lecture and Reception
Thursday, April 12
17.30: General Meeting with Lecture in Bute Hall, main building
18.45: Reception in Kelvingrove Museum (about 10 minutes walk)
We invite all participants to attend the general meeting with words of welcome from the city of Glasgow, Glasgow University, a brief report on the ESSHC and a special lecture by Prof. Christopher J. Berry:
Adam Smith: Opulence, Freedom and a Moral Economy
A student records Smith professing in his lectures at Glasgow University that 'opulence and freedom' were the 'two greatest blessings men can possess'. This positive linkage of opulence with freedom is central to Smith's vindication of commercial society and thence of modern liberty and its realisation in an economy imbued with moral values. In the Wealth of Nations he made it clear that the 'wealth' lay in the well-being of the people. This covered not only their material prosperity (there is nothing noble about poverty, it is a miserable condition) but also their moral welfare (individuals should have the freedom to pursue their own interests in their own way). In the Moral Sentiments he made it clear that humans possessed a disinterested concern with the happiness of others. It was a proper task of government to provide, through the rule of law, a framework for opulence to be attained and to enable all its citizens, through the provision of public works, to enjoy the liberty to lead a life of their own choosing.
Put together this is the view that comes to be called liberalism. In effect, liberalism valorises the mundane. As a mundane liberal, Smith's 'economy' is 'moral'.
Christopher J. Berry is Professor (Emeritus) of Political Theory and Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. He has established himself as a leading international scholar of the Scottish Enlightenment. In addition to seminal articles, and contributions in this area, he is the author of the key text Social Theory of the Scottish Enlightenment (Edinburgh, 1997), which is shortly to appear in both Japanese and Chinese translations. His scholarship ranges more widely. The author of six books in total, his Idea of Luxury (Cambridge, 1994) has had widespread influence both outside and inside academia and appeared in a Chinese translation (Century Press, 2005). The quality of his scholarship was recognised by his election at his first nomination to Scotland's 'national academy' – the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
He is currently editing a large volume of original essays on Adam Smith for Oxford University Press and writing a book The Idea of Commercial Society in the Scottish Enlightenment for Edinburgh University Press.
After the lecture you are invited to joint the reception in Kelvingrove Art Gallery. The reception is hosted by the City of Glasgow.
