This month’s title focuses on the figure of the public intellectual, a character that encompasses the best and worst of the twentieth century. Patty McCabe discusses the French intellectual and their treatment as a category, Nick Thomas looks at the way technology has forced intellectuals to alter their parameters of engagement and Joe Strong looks at the public intellectual and revolution. Each of theses articles comes from a different angle but there is one idea that binds them together; the public intellectual needs to change and adapt to the twentieth-first century.
The first Kaleidoscope Politics section has certainly achieved the wide range of political issues we aimed for. Kalil Copley compares the volunteer programs seen in the Spanish Civil War and Syrian Civil War, Nick Thomas assesses Ed Miliband's efforts in 2013 to define himself as Labour leader, and Angus Boobbyer looks at the state of South African politics without Nelson Mandela as a guiding figure. I hope you enjoy reading the articles as much as I have.
The second instalment of Kaleidoscope’s Society section features articles on topics from men’s health to Miley Cyrus. Three months on, Philip Kelvin questions the portrayal of men’s health issues in comparison those of their female counterparts and wonders whether they should follow their lead. Both Ruby Hoare and Toni Warr take a look at the actions of Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus and explore the impact they have had, and most importantly, to what extent their actions should have had an impact. Mike Cressy has a closer look at the issue affecting most undergraduates right now – the daunting process of graduate job applications.
Drawing on the specific and the general, on both current events and rich, deeply rooted cultural seams; the Culture section explores every aspect of the world around us. In this issue, Thea Hawlin analyses the recent Francis Bacon and Henry Moore exhibition “Flesh and Bone”, evaluating not only the exhibition itself but also the artists and their work. Georgina Wilson follows her previous article with a comparison of modern literature versus its classical counterparts, questioning why these “Stolen Stories” are so fascinating to readers. Lastly Joe Strong addresses attitudes towards female comedians, attacking Brian Lowry’s sexist review of Sarah Silverman being too dirty for a woman.
The Review section aims to present and analyse a wide range of events and new publications, such as theatrical, dance and musical performances, books, films, and exhibitions. It embraces both popular culture as well as more innovative, controversial or unheard of work. In our second issue, Ciaran Less reviews “Gravity”, the awe-inspiring action-thriller film set in space featuring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Patty McCabe assesses the last 50 years of music by considering 5 albums which celebrated a birthday last year while Kevin Maclean discusses Lady Gaga’s third album “Art Pop”. Last but not least, Heather Mungin reviews the Ambassador Theatre Group’s vibrant production of West Side Story.
Letter from the Editor
Those of you who have received any of our emails over the summer will by now know that the Kaleidoscope Project ‘found its genesis in a moment of frustration.’ As my father kindly pointed out, only a university student would use a phrase as pretentious as ‘genesis’ to say ‘I had a brainwave.’ Although I must admit that he has a point (as parents so often do), I don’t think this changes anything about the nature of our journal and what we want to achieve.
This ‘moment of frustration’ occurred in May of this year, whilst I was writing up a project about historians and the moral authority of the intellectual tradition – as one casually does. I had this feeling that there was no forum for intellectual comment and debate amongst the younger generation. Comment, for people for my generation at least, seems to be reduced to Facebook statuses and 140 character tweets – there is hardly room for proper spelling, let alone well-researched and considered opinion! So I dashed off a message to a few friends I thought could feel the same and the Kaleidoscope Project was born.
Of course, this is only our first issue and we are very much still in the seedling stages. If you would like to get involved on any level, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to drop us an email to comment on any of the articles. We want to publish comments on any articles and our writers will try and respond where necessary. If you would like to write an article for the next issue then just send us a proposal for your article.
The Kaleidoscope Project aims to provide people with a space to comment on any issue that they feel is important – from politics and philosophy to pensions and pasties! I firmly believe that we need to take away this lightning speed approach to comment that social networking sites encourage. Please do not take this to mean that I am against social networking sites in general. I think they are useful and beneficial for so many things, but intellectual comment is certainly not one of them.