Dr Triona Fitton is a lecturer at the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research. She is the author of ‘Hidden History: Philanthropy at the University of Kent’, a book about the history of donations to the University since its charter in 1965. She is the former Director of the MA in Philanthropic Studies in the Centre for Philanthropy at the university, and is currently part of the Student Success project, a university-wide initiative to research and tackle the attainment gap for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For a roundtable discussion at the Social History Society’s recent annual Conference in Keele, she was tasked with talking about how we teach the history of philanthropy and humanitarianism to student practitioners. In her contribution to the Learning & Teaching Exchange, she reflects on this, where history fits in and why it matters.