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Profs & Pints: Britain on the Brink

Profs and Pints presents: Britain on the Brink, with Sam Wetherell, lecturer on British and World History at the University of York.

What on earth is happening in Britain? Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, Brexit has dominated every element of British politics and culture, shaping the course of elections, toppling Prime Ministers, and confusing the hell out of everyone.

To gain a better understanding of how Britain got into this mess, come join Sam Wetherell, an expert on British history from across the pond, for a talk that will offer you a long-term perspective. Along with taking stock of Britain's current crisis, he'll take a deep dive into the last two hundred years of British history, examining what led up to all of this.

Wetherell will tackle three related questions: How does the collapse of Britains massive, world-making Empire shape its present place in the world? How much of its current crisis can be traced to its historical status as the first country to industrialize, and the long-term effects of its extraordinary and violently disruptive period of rapid economic and population growth? Finally, why does modern British politics--with its hollering House of Commons, its geriatric House of Lords, and its dysfunctional royal family--seem so strange and backward?

You'll end up with a better understanding of the meaning and significance of Brexit and a better sense of what the future holds for the British. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, save $2 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)