This session has been planned to happen directly after our lunchtime talk All Our Stories Happened Here.
Tea / coffee etc will be provided.
This interactive workshop invites participants to help shape the Panacea Museum's exhibition about the Society's sealed Box and its significance to the women who believed in its extraordinary power.
For members of the Panacea Society, the Box represented more than a religious object. It embodied their hopes for divine intervention, the transformation of the world, and the possibility of overcoming human suffering. Yet the Box also attracted curiosity, scepticism and ridicule from the wider public.
Through discussion and reflection, participants will be invited to consider the meanings of the Box in relation to their own lived experiences, including themes of hope, belief, uncertainty, suffering and expectations for the future.
Participants will also have the opportunity to review draft exhibition texts, helping us understand whether the stories are accessible, engaging and meaningful to contemporary audiences.
Details for the speakers from St Mary's University Twickenham
Dr Angela Platt is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature and Liberal Arts at St Mary's University, Twickenham, and a researcher specialising in the history of emotions, religion and gender. Her work explores how people in the past understood and expressed feelings and beliefs, with particular attention to gender and the relationship between emotions and religious life. She works closely with museums and heritage organisations to develop collaborative exhibitions and public engagement projects, including her research with the Panacea Society.
Dr Stewart McCain is an Associate Professor in History at St Mary's University, Twickenham. His research focuses on modern European and British history, with particular interests in language, identity, citizenship and the relationship between individuals and wider society. He is the author of The Language Question Under Napoleon and has also published research on citizenship and Commonwealth immigration in post-war Britain. His work explores how historical experiences and identities are shaped by social, cultural and political contexts.
