This is a recurring event: View all events in the series “Finsbury Institute”
“I danced here on other peoples’ dreams: How racism shaped my critical eye”
Overview
The Finsbury Institute of City, University of London, is launching its inaugural Rosemary Hollis Memorial Lecture, hosted by the School of Policy and Global Affairs.
The lecture series is dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Rosemary Hollis, a much-loved and much-missed colleague who served as a Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at City from 2008 until her retirement in 2018.
Aimed as a cross-disciplinary and community-building event, City envisions the lecture series to explore social issues that impact the modern world today.
The inaugural lecture is titled “I danced here on other peoples’ dreams: How racism shaped my critical eye” and will be delivered by City journalism alumnus Gary Younge (PG Dip Newspaper Journalism, 1993).
He will discuss his outstanding career success and the trials and tribulations that have come with being a renowned Black journalist.
17:30 – arrival and registration
18:00 – lecture begins
18:45 – Q&A
19:00 – reception for all
20:00 – close
Remembering Professor Rosemary Hollis
The late Professor Rosemary Hollis served as a Professor of Middle East Policy Studies within the department at City, University of London from 2008 until her retirement in 2018.
A much-loved colleague and friend to many at City, she was internationally known expert on Middle East policy with 35 years of experience.
Her research, books, articles, lectures, seminars and high profile media analysis covered the UK withdrawal from “east of Suez”, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Gulf war of 1991, the Iraq war of 2003, UK and EU foreign and defence policy, as well as focused studies on Turkey, Egypt, the Gulf states and Jordan.
She was the Director of the Olive Tree Scholarship Programme at City, which awarded scholarships for exceptional Palestinian and Israeli students and provided a cross-conflict dialogue.
Prior to joining City in March 2008, Rosemary was Director of Research at the thinktank Chatham House, of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. When joining City, she bridged the gap between academia and the thinktank world.
She read history at King’s College London, followed by an MA in war studies, and a PhD in Politics in the 1980s at George Washington University.
Known to many as Rosy, she was much-admired for her no-nonsense, no-frills approach to speaking truth to power. She was a generous mentor to her students as well as a supportive colleague, especially to women. She passed away suddenly in 2020 and was survived by her sister Kathy.
Speaker Gary Younge
Gary Younge (PG Dip Newspaper Journalism, 1993) is an award-winning author, journalist, broadcaster, editor-at-large for The Guardian, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester and an Alfred Knobler Fellow at The Nation Institute.
Over the course of his career as a journalist, Younge has reported from across the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and the USA.
Before becoming the editor-at-large for The Guardian in 2015, he served as the newspaper’s US correspondent for twelve years, working from New York and Chicago. His body of work – which ranges from books, to newspaper columns, to radio and television documentaries – cover a range of subjects including Brexit, gay marriage and white supremacy in America.
He has a longstanding connection to City. An alumnus of the University, he received a postgraduate qualification in Newspaper Journalism in 1993. He returned in 2009 to deliver the prestigious James Cameron Memorial Lecture for his work on reporting former US President Barack Obama’s election. In 2019, Gary was invited to speak about his life and work as part of a series of events celebrating Black History Month.
Gary has published six books: Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter, Another Day in the Death of America, A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives: The Speech, The Story Behind Martin Luther King's Dream: Who Are We?, And Should it Matter in the 21st century; Stranger in a Strange Land, Travels in the Disunited States and No Place Like Home, A Black Briton's Journey Through the Deep South.
His most recent book (Dispatches from the Diaspora, published in 2023) is a collection of his journalism covering four decades of reporting from Britain, the US, and South Africa. The New Statesman described it as "a reminder of how much racism has changed and how much it has stayed the same".
In 2020, Gary was named in the 100 Great Black Britons list. He was also listed among the Top 100 of the most influential people in the UK from African/African-Caribbean descent in both 2020 and 2021.
Attendance at City events is subject to our terms and conditions.