If you’ve ever thought about preserving your precious family stories to pass down to future generations, academics at the University of Worcester will be on hand to help as part of a series of events on the theme of ‘motherhood’.
The events will also include a drop-in session aimed at men and women who’ve chosen not to become parents, as well as a chance to create crafts in collaboration with Worcester Craftivists, and an evening of bite-size research-based talks.
The series of free events has been organised by Historian Dr Anna Muggeridge and Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Dr Lucy Arnold, as part of the Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, running November 6-15.
The Festival’s theme this year is Between the Lines and lecturers at Worcester are focusing on ‘marginalised motherhood’.
It begins with a special ‘Spinning a Yarn’ workshop in collaboration with the Tudor House Museum in Worcester on Friday, November 7 from 10am-1pm, which will introduce people to methods used by researchers when collecting oral histories.
The workshop, at the Museum, aims to give pointers on how to draw out elderly relatives’ memories, particularly on stories of motherhood.
“Stories about motherhood might not be told often, sometimes because there’s a shame attached to some aspects of them, or sometimes because people might think, oh, this isn’t important because my story is very ordinary,” said Dr Muggeridge.
“We wanted to do something to bring some of those more hidden stories to life, but also give people the tools and the skills that they might need to preserve those stories within their own families.
“We’re going to talk about how to collect your own family oral history archives in an ethical and sensitive way because you might have stories that are challenging or difficult, for example if somebody went through a period of depression after having a child, if the child was unwell or worse.”
The following day – Saturday, November 8 – there will be a drop-in session from 10am – 4pm at The Kiln in Copenhagen Street, Worcester, aimed at men and women who’ve chosen not to become parents. This will explore historic and literary representations of people in the past who have been child free by choice and is a chance for people to come and share their stories.
On November 13, from 6pm to 8pm, academics from the University’s School of Arts and Humanities will deliver a series of bite-size talks based on their research in an event titled ‘Mum’s the Word’ at the George Marshall Medical Museum at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Finally, there is a drop-in session between 10am and 1pm in collaboration with Worcester Craftivists at St Swithun’s Church in Worcester on November 15. Participants will be encouraged to reflect creatively on their experiences of motherhood and create a small craft item with support from the Craftivists.
The four events draw on Dr Muggeridge’s research project into women politicised by motherhood throughout the last century and work that Dr Arnold has been doing on the depiction of ghost children in literature.
Dr Arnold said: “Literary narratives of motherhood can often be a first opportunity for an individual to reflect on the process of becoming a mother and what that might look like at different moments in time and place, providing permission for readers to put a narrative to their own feelings and experiences, particularly when those experiences might not align with mainstream, pop cultural understandings of maternity and the maternal.”
Some events require booking. To find out more, visit the Being Human website: https://www.beinghumanfestival.org/marginalised-motherhoods.