Helen Roche

Cover of Abusing Antiquity? volume showing Athena (?) portrayed in the style of Attic red-figure painting holding a sign that says "you will not replace our Classics" and a shield with Pepe the frog on it.

More publication news: "Abusing Antiquity? Classics and the Contemporary Far Right," edited by @drhelenroche.bsky.social and @denisemccoskey.bsky.social, is now available for pre-order from @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social.
www.bloomsbury.com/us/abusing-a...

Guest Post - Classification as Colonization: The Hidden Politics of Library Catalogs - The Scholarly Kitchen The renaming of "Mount Denali" and "Gulf of Mexico" to the politically loaded “Mount McKinley" and "Gulf of America" reveal the naked truth of what cataloging has always been: a battlefield where mean...

"What makes cataloging such a potent political instrument is not just its ability to name but its power to make those naming decisions appear neutral and inevitable". But something can be done about the "invisible violence of metadata".Read through the end
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/03/25/g...

The official invitations to the Napola exhibition opening (and film premiere) in Potsdam have now been sent out! If you'd be interested in attending, please don't hesitate to let me know...

"Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism" begins at @durhamuniversity.bsky.social! All thanks to @benecarnaghi.bsky.social, @drhelenroche.bsky.social , and @durhamhistory.bsky.social. Two days of terrific papers: check out the schedule for today and join us!

Please consider doing this; it is so difficult to get a real sense of all the people who do work in historical game studies (in the myriad ways people can work in this area)

Fantastic - if you DM me your email address I'll aim to send it over soon.

I am genuinely interested in the broadest possible definition of what HGS/games & history/the past might mean (inc.e.g. archaeogaming) and I think it's crucial to know what's being done outside the academy too (which some of the most important scholars in the field have also been forced to leave!).

Some good news in that I've now found a publisher interested in the prosopographical / state of the field work I've been doing on HGS(!). I'll be chasing people up about the questionnaires I've already sent out, but if you'd like to be included, please DM me... #HGS #historygames #gtp #gamingthepast

Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism schedule

Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism schedule

Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism schedule

Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism schedule

Here's the schedule for 'Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism', a conference that
@drhelenroche.bsky.social and I are organizing on March 28-29 for @durhamhistory.bsky.social. We'll spark fresh conversations about resistance to power—and have a few laughs too! Please join us!

Just received the first draft invitation for the exhibition I'm co-curating, which is opening in Potsdam in May at the Brandenburgische Landeszentrale(!).

When the Richest Man in the World Loves Classics Elon Musk is (as of now) not only the richest man in the world but also, thanks to President Trump’s embrace of him, one of the most politically powerful. He also loves Greco-Roman antiquity. That lov...

Great new post from @curtisdozier.bsky.social on Musk and (sadly no longer alt-)right classicism...
pharos.vassarspaces.net/2025/01/31/e...

I feel your pain! e.g. last weekend I spotted a poster on the back of a loo door at a mini-golf/games arcade in Newcastle, featuring a statue of Julius Caesar wearing pixel-sunglasses... and advertising cheap cocktails...! (sadly I didn't take a photo - next time maybe...)

Bystander Society: Conformity and Complicity in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, by Mary Fulbrook In a political landscape where the stability of democracy seems once again to be embattled by the rise of far-right parties (sometimes self-proclaiming as

Helen Roche @drhelenroche.bsky.social reviews 'Bystander Society: Conformity and Complicity in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust', by Mary Fulbrook

academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @oxfordunipress.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social @uclholocaust.bsky.social

Realistically I should just try and find someone else(!). But as caring responsibilities (for older and younger generations) make it harder to research/write, I'm still way off finishing my trade book, so I'm wary that others might not take my work seriously.

Your having a choice is great though!

My (middle-aged, male) agent once asked me some sceptical question about "whether I planned to have a family". Many years later, I was too anxious to let him know I was pregnant/had horrendous hyperemesis gravidarum because I thought he would judge me. Re choices, make of that what you will...

Real Dictators - Noiser Podcasts Real Dictators is the new podcast series hosted by Paul McGann (Dr Who, Luther, Withnail and I) that explores the hidden lives of history’s tyrants.

Earlier this year, I contributed to the "Real Dictators" podcast series on Mussolini - the first episode has just been released today: www.noiser.com/realdictators - available on BBC Sounds, Apple, Spotify and others... (I also contributed to their previous series, on Hitler's rise and downfall.)

That's amazing - I'd love to hear more about your work in/on boardgames more generally too! Feel free to DM me your preferred email, and I'll send the questionnaire across.

Thanks so much! I completely understand about the rights issues, and will definitely let you know how things go. We're also publishing an edited volume with Bloomsbury: 'Abusing Antiquity? Classics and the Contemporary Far Right' (more info. on the project here: www.iasdurham.org/2024/04/08/w...)

Hi Jenny, since we were last in touch, I've decided to do a bit of meta-analysis on HGS scholarship, and have now drafted a prosopographical questionnaire for anyone interested; if you'd like me to send you a copy, just let me know what email would be best (by DM is fine).

Hi Lucas, I've drafted the questionnaire now, so if you'd like to message me your preferred email, I can send it over.

Hi Pieter, I've drafted the questionnaire now; if we follow each other mutually you should be able to send me a DM with your preferred email address, if that works?

Hi Cynthia, @curtisdozier.bsky.social and I are currently writing a piece for Fascism journal on appropriation of antiquity in far-right branding and online memes, and wondered if your database of images/brands is available for other scholars' use? Annett Graefe-Geusch suggested we get in touch...

Thank you so much!

Would love to be added to this if there's room...

Would love to be added to this, but don't seem to be able to send you a DM at present :-)

I'm trying to cast the net as widely as possible and capture interdisciplinary permutations of all kinds, so I'd be very happy to include you if you like. Feel free to DM me a preferred email address if so (and adjust any questions/answers as you see fit)...

Just to say that I've now drafted a prosopographical questionnaire, and will be sending it out to all interested parties v. soon, once I've received some feedback on the design - watch this space! (If you'd like to be included, don't hesitate to let me know.) #HGS #historygames #gtp #gamingthepast

I think it should work now?