Animals and the Holocaust Workshop

Dr Roseanna Ramsden, University of Leeds R.Ramsden@leeds.ac.uk @RosieRamsden92   In July of this year, Barnabas Balint and Charlotte Gibbs, of the University of Oxford and the University of Southern California respectively, together hosted an academic workshop on the topic of animals and the Holocaust. Held at Magdalen College, Oxford, with the generous support of the … Continued

Putting on a Show with the Kenwood Chef

Alice Naylor, University of Portsmouth and Science Museum Group alice.naylor@myport.ac.uk  This blog reflects on a performance held as part of the 2022 Being Human festival, which won the Social History Society’s 2023 Public History Prize. The Kenwood Manufacturing Company Ltd was co-founded by Kenneth Wood and Roger Laurence in 1947. It is a historic British … Continued

Tiny Traces: African and Asian Children at London’s Foundling Hospital

Hannah Dennett, University of Warwick Hannah.Dennett@warwick.ac.uk This blog reflects on Hannah Dennett’s work to produce the ‘Tiny Traces’ exhibition, which was given a special commendation in the Social History Society’s 2023 Public History Prize. After a long campaign by its founder Thomas Coram, London’s Foundling Hospital opened its doors on 25 March 1741 to receive … Continued

MIRPUR VR

Hassun El-Zafar @hassunelzafar MIRPUR VR is an immersive experience which shares memories of Kashmir’s Mirpur district before the submersion of hundreds of villages under the Mangla Dam in the 1960s. According to the latest census, 70% of British Pakistanis have a heritage in Mirpur, with many families using compensation to travel to the UK during … Continued

Developing A Space For Academic And Community History Engagement

Kwaku @kwakubbm I’m an independent researcher with a particular interest in global and British African history; and a historical musicologist, with a particular interest in black music. I work with a small pan-London grouping of community organisations known as BTWSC/African Histories Revisited. During the 2020 pandemic, I developed a number of Zoom events, including the … Continued

Sudan Prison Exhibition: Memories of Kober

Shahenda Suliman ‘Sudan Prison Exhibition: Memories of Kober and Beyond’ was a one-day exhibition held in London in September 2022, focusing on prisons and prisoners in Sudanese history. Showcasing work harking back to the late 19th century and Anglo-Egyptian occupation, the exhibition aimed to highlight the role of prisons in colonial and post-colonial Sudanese political … Continued

The Value of Public History

Tanya Evans and Melanie Burkett, Macquarie University @TanyaEvans14 tanya.evans@mq.edu.au Semester 1 has just begun. I’m as excited as ever about meeting my new 3rd year Cultural Heritage and Public History Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) students. But I’m also a little wary as tertiary teachers and learners here in Australia and elsewhere around the world … Continued

1918 Allotment

JC Niala, University of Oxford Jc.niala@stcatz.ox.ac.uk @jcniala This blog describes a public engagement project that won the SHS’s 2022 Public History Prize. You can read the announcement here. I was already researching urban allotments in Oxford before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Oxford did not have a city-wide waiting list before the pandemic started. … Continued

Afro Historyscapes Podcast

JC Niala, University of Oxford Jc.niala@stcatz.ox.ac.uk @jcniala African history tends to be characterised by its silences. The history that is known internationally is often framed in relation to European history meaning that tragic events and contested histories are foregrounded. In contrast, many diasporic African historians work to tell a history that is centred on the … Continued