Upcoming talks

 We are delighted to announce that we have 5 more Zoom lectures coming up between now and the end of April. Our thanks go to the speakers who have helped us pull these together at short notice.

All talks will be free and take place on Thursday evenings at 7.30.

The speakers and subjects are:

24/02/2022 - Lucy McConnell, Dress Historian - The Rise and Fall of the Paisley Shawl

10/03/2022 - Andrea Pearson, Paisley Museum - Climate Emergency

24/03/2022 - Conor Wilson, Lecturer in Criminology & Criminal Justice, UWS - Telling the Untold Story: Representing Paisley, Culture and Regeneration

07/04/2022 - Victoria Irvine, Paisley Museum - John Henning (1771-1851), Modeller and former speaker at Paisley Philosophical

21/04/2022 - John Pressly, Science Curator, Paisley Museum – “Corozal”, the Renfrew built dredger which helped to build the Panama Canal

More details will follow shortly.

Archie Henderson - Enlightened ideals 27 January 2022 @ 7.30

 The Paisley Philosophical Institution are planning to do a short series of Zoom talks over the next few weeks which will be free to all, in the hope that these will encourage people to consider joining the Institution.

Our next full session will start in September 2022 when it is hoped we will be able to resume live meetings, possibly supplemented by live streaming, as well as online only talks, which will allow us to engage speakers from further afield.

However, in order to carry out these plans we urgently need to rebuild our membership, which was already falling drastically prior to Covid.

It would be a pity if this long established and revered Institution (founded in 1808), which has contributed so much to Paisley over the years, was to be wound up.

The first talk in this free short series will be by Archie Henderson, from Paisley Museum on 27 January at 7.30.

The subject of the talk, entitled “Enlightened Ideals”, is a retrospective of the various buildings associated with the Paisley Free Library and Museum, taking us from 1868 to the present day.

Link to the event is here

Special meeting 7 December 2021

On Tuesday 7 December at 7.15 we will be hosting a Zoom meeting to discuss the future of the Institution. We see this meeting as vitally important to the PPI.

This meeting will be open to all interested parties, as we would like to attract new members.

At the moment our meetings, consist of a speaker giving a presentation of around 45v minutes, followed by a Q&A.

We will discuss the nature of meetings and also what type of speaker people would like to hear. In addition would visits to places such as the Secret Collection be of interest.

Also do people wish to meet on-line, in person or a combination of the two.

Please contact us at paisley.philsophy@gmail.com if you wish to participate.

A Zoom link will be sent out shortly before the meeting.

Zoom meeting 29 November 2021

 

On Monday 29^th November at 19.30 we are hosting a talk on Zoom, given by George English, Secretary of Kilmarnock Rotary. The subject is 1620 – The Mayflower Journey. George recently gave this presentation to the Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library in New York State, USA.

As you will hear, George has a close personal connection to these events, and it should be an absorbing talk. 

The event is free and open to all interested parties.

George has kindly supplied the following information;

1620 – The Mayflower Journey: The Pilgrims and the Scottish Connections' George English is a professional genealogist and the Director of Family History service Research Through People. He has many years of experience of genealogical and historical research, and has published works, in UK, USA and other parts of the world. 

 

2020 was the 400th Anniversary of Mayflower, the voyage that changed the world. George had an ancestor, Richard Warren, who was a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620. His talk covers the events during the Reformation which led to the Pilgrims leaving for the New World; the voyage itself and the passengers; the impact the Mayflower has had on Western civilisation since; and the Scottish connections.   

Update from the President

 Dear member,

I hope that you are fit and well and adapting well to the “new normal” of social distancing, severely restricted social life, and endless repeats on the TV!
It seems like ages since we had our last meeting, so I just thought that I would write to update you with the latest information on the upcoming session.
Firstly, on a positive note, we seem to be OK for speakers, covering a wide range of interesting subjects, from “Paisley’s Scientific Legacy,” to “The 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower” as well as the possibility of a themed visit to Paisley Museums “Secret Collection” on the High Street - virus rules permitting!
However, we are currently unable to confirm a venue for our regular talks, as the University remains closed for the foreseeable future - at least until October. This means that we are not able to fix a starting date for our next session and it is therefore likely that this will be delayed.
I know that this is frustrating for us all, but unfortunately it is necessary and the requirements for social distancing, cleaning etc. preclude the use of alternative venues as well.
It has been suggested that we could resume talks online, but this would obviously depend on the willingness of you, our membership, to participate. Do you feel that this is a good idea?
 I would be obliged if you could share your views on this proposal with us. 
Committee meetings also present a problem which might be solved by using this approach.
Anyway, I am sure that we can get through this, so take care, and I look forward to seeing you all again when we can safely open the new session.”

Iain Skene

President

John Byrne and Paisley Museum

Our next meeting is on Thursday 12 March at 7.30 in Room D133 in UWS, Paisley. Visitors are welcome, with a suggested donation of £3.00.

Aileen Strachan from Paisley Museum will talk about the reimagined Paisley Museum.

Hear about the ways John Byrne will feature in the redeveloped Paisley Museum.  We’ll share our ideas for researching and interpreting John Byrne’s work, and introduce our overall approach to making new displays as part of Paisley Museum Re-Imagined.  The project is transforming Paisley Museum into a world-class attraction housing the town's outstanding collections and bringing to the life the stories of its people, pattern, and heritage.

Please note that the AGM will be held at 7.

Paisley at the Pictures 1950

On Thursday 27 February 2020 at 7.30 pm in Room D133, UWS, Paisley, Brian Hannan will talk on the above subject. Brian describes himself as '.. an odd combination - a movie buff, a food lover (I own a cookery school) and I've been writing fiction since I was fourteen.' his talk will be based on his book of the same name.

The talk is open to visitors with a suggested donation of £3.00.