{"id":1111,"date":"2013-10-21T19:52:05","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T19:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2013-10-21T19:52:05","modified_gmt":"2013-10-21T19:52:05","slug":"what-is-happiness-esrc-festival-of-social-science-81113","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/2013\/10\/21\/what-is-happiness-esrc-festival-of-social-science-81113\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Happiness? ESRC Festival of Social Science. 8\/11\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"

I will be introducing the panel discussion at Mass Observation’s ESRC Festival of Social Science on the 8th November. In the build up to the event I’ve been thinking about happiness in the 1980s. \u00a0 When I’ve read through the Mass Observation Directive Retrospectives on 1986<\/a> and the decade as a whole in 1990<\/a>, one of the things that jumps out is the sense of possible, or just avoided, disasters. 1986 saw the Challenger Space Ship Disaster, Chernobyl, and Hillsborough for example. Whilst the roundups of the decade in 1990 broadened these specific disasters out to more general concern about the environment, homelessness, AIDS and Famine. \u00a0Not a lot to be happy about it seems. \u00a0But in between these public concerns MOP shows moments of public and private happiness were being found in hopes for the future; a child’s first steps, or the marriage of children and birth of grandchildren were marked and celebrated alongside the marriage of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew.<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve half inched the rest of \u00a0this from the Mass Observation Archive.\u00a0Reblogged from Jessica Scantlebury, MOA<\/a><\/p>\n

In November we are hosting a series of events as part of the\u00a0ESRC\u2019s Festival of Social Science<\/a>. The festival aims to highlights social science in society and support events that are engaging for everyone. The focus for our programme is, again, Mass Observation and happiness.\u00a0 The events are free and open to everyone. The details are:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is Happiness? Investigating the everyday with Mass Observation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday 4th November (9.30am \u2013 13.30pm) and repeated on Tuesday 5th November (9.30am \u2013 13.30pm) at the Latest Music Bar, Brighton<\/strong><\/p>\n

Investigate the Everyday: Creative Writing and the Mass Observation Archive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Explore the relevance of social science research through the theme of happiness and discover how ordinary British peoples beliefs of the 1930s and 1990s can inspire your own creative writing.<\/p>\n

In this practical workshop with Poet Evlynn Sharp and staff from the Mass Observation Archive you will be introduced to tools and values of research. You will also find ways of creating writing that can be helpful in everyday life and work, supporting self-reflection and powerful self-expression<\/p>\n

The workshop is open to all.<\/p>\n

Wednesday 6th November (2.30 \u2013 4.30pm)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/em>I love being in the garden\u2019<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong>Happy encounters in everyday life\u2019<\/strong> Public talk given by Mark Bhatti (University of Brighton) at the\u00a0Latest Music Bar, Brighton<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday 7th November (2.30 \u2013 4.30pm)<\/strong>
\n\u2018The Meanings of Happiness in Mass Observation\u2019s Bolton\u2019<\/strong> Public talk given by Claire Langhamer (University of Sussex) at the\u00a0Latest Music Bar, Brighton<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 8th November (Doors open at 7.00pm)<\/strong>
\nPanel discussion on \u201cWhat is happiness?\u201d<\/strong> chaired by Lucy Robinson (University of Sussex) with Annebella Pollen (University of Brighton), Ben Jones (UEA), and Emily Robinson (University of Sussex) at the\u00a0Quadrant pub. Brighton<\/a><\/p>\n

Advance booking for the \u2018What is Happiness?\u2019 is required. Please email: moa@sussex.ac.uk or call 1273 337515 to request a place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The events will be documented on this blog by our blogger in residence and you can join in the discussion on Twitter by using the hashtag #HappyMOA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I will be introducing the panel discussion at Mass Observation’s ESRC Festival of Social Science on the 8th November. In the build up to the event I’ve been thinking about happiness in the 1980s. \u00a0 When I’ve read through the Mass Observation Directive Retrospectives on 1986<\/a> and the decade as a whole in \u2026 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[258,259,256],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1111"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1114,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions\/1114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/observingthe80s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}