Learning about Britain’s Black Abolitionists

Saima Miah, University of Wolverhampton graduate The theme of this year’s Black History Month is ‘time for change: action not words’. In this spirit, former SHS committee member Dr George Gosling reached out to some of his former students at the University of Wolverhampton to discuss what it meant to them to learn about Black … Continued

Social Mobility: A Personal Story

Joe Moran, Liverpool John Moores University J.Moran@ljmu.ac.uk My new article for Cultural and Social History, ‘An Intimate History of Social Mobility in Post-War Britain’, focuses on the lives of my parents. My mum and dad were baby boomers, beneficiaries of the 1944 Education Act and the opening of new universities in the 1960s. But my … 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

Teaching with Objects in Lockdown

A 1980s telephone

Dr Henry Irving, Leeds Beckett University @drhenryirving There is a large cardboard box in the corner of my study. It’s been there for the past nine weeks and now feels as permanent a fixture as my lamp or bookcase. During this time, the box has become gradually fuller, providing a home to a seemingly endless … Continued

Teaching History Online in Lockdown

George Gosling, University of Wolverhampton @gcgosling What works at any given time is, of course, historically and contextually contingent. So it proved for teaching online during lockdown last time, and so it will prove again. When university teaching in the UK migrated online in March 2020, most of those teaching at universities were completely unprepared … Continued

She Wanted to See A Soldier

Dr David Clampin, Liverpool John Moores University @WWIIadvertising   A couple of years ago I was asked by the National Trust to work with them at their Formby Beach site. Formby beach is an important ecological site made up of ‘dramatic sand dunes, surrounded by sweeping coastal pinewoods’. It is well known locally, and beyond, … Continued

UCL and the Practices of Public History in East London

Dr Georgina Brewis, University College London and Dr Ali Bennett, University of Lincoln @DrGinaB @alibeenet In what it describes as ‘the largest single expansion’ since it was founded in 1826, University College London is currently in the middle of developing a new campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Some teaching is already taking place … Continued