News in the Department of History
Victorians paid more for Jubilee tickets
February 2012 Department of History PhD student Mike Humphries has been discussing his research into Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, contrasting the event with the upcoming Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth.
Humphries noted; “In many ways, it was the high watermark of Victorian power and, despite Victoria’s reluctance to be overly involved and the fact she did not invite heads of state, the event attracted important people from all over the globe.
“You couldn’t sit at home and watch it on TV. If you wanted to see it you had to attend and it was such a tremendous event.
“By comparison, this summer’s celebration is low key. There will be the Thames Pageant and a Thanksgiving procession to St Paul’s, but the tickets that you can find are much cheaper than the Victorians were paying.”
For the full article see the Daily Express article, published on 12 February 2012
Illuminations: The Private Lives Of Medieval Kings
January 2012 On Monday 9 January 2012 at 21:00, BBC Four broadcast the first episode of Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings. Professor David Carpenter talked with Dr Janina Ramirez about Matthew Paris, the great chronicler of the 13th century. The last part of Paris' greatest work: The Chronica Majora is in the British Library and has a lot about the life of King Henry III, including the elephant, complete with drawing which he kept at the Tower of London. Paris and Henry often met at St Albans where Paris was a monk and the interview was filmed in the abbey.
£830,000 AHRC grant for Charlemagne research project
November 2011 The Department of History in collaboration with the Department of Digital Humanities has attracted an £830,000 Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) grant for the new research project 'The Making of Charlemagne's Europe, 768-814'. The principal investigator is Dr Alice Rio (History) and the co-investigators are Emeritus Professor Dame Janet Nelson (History) and John Bradley (Digital Humanities). Two Postdoctoral Research Associates will also be recruited to work on the project. The project will create a database gathering all the surviving documentary evidence dating from the reign of Charlemagne, with the aim of presenting this material in a fully searchable and mappable form, so as to allow broad cross-regional links and comparisons.
Exclusive student reading for Black History Month
October 2011 History undergraduate student Chibundu Onuzo, hailed as one of Nigeria's freshest young writers, gave an exclusive reading from her forthcoming novel "The Spider King's Daughter" on Friday 14 October in the Great Hall, as part of the College's Black History Month Celebrations. Read an online review of the event and Chibundu’s blog entry. Photos of the reading have been uploaded to the department’s facebook page.
New staff in the Department of History
September 2011 The Department of History is pleased to welcome three new permanent members of academic staff: Dr Anna Maerker, Dr Simon Sleight and Dr Alice Taylor.
Dr Maerker has been appointed as a Senior Lecturer in the History of Medicine, and her research interests include the history of medicine, public history and the visual and material culture of medicine and science, especially anatomical models, collections and displays. Dr Maerker holds an MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge, and an MA/PhD in the interdisciplinary field of Science & Technology Studies from Cornell University.
Dr Sleight has been appointed as a Lecturer in Australian History and his specialist areas are the history of childhood and youth, the history of Australia, and the Australian community in Britain. He has also written on subjects including national identity and the role of museums as purveyors of public history. Dr Sleight is a graduate of three universities – Warwick, UCL and Monash – and is affiliated with the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King’s.
Dr Taylor has been appointed as a Lecturer in Medieval History and her main period of research is the central Middle Ages, with particular interests in law, social ritual and medieval state formation. She is currently completing a book on the emergence of the state in Scotland during the central Middle Ages. Dr Taylor holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford and worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge prior to joining King’s.
The Department also appointed Dr Eliza Filby as a Lecturer in Modern British History, to cover for Professor Richard Vinen who is on research leave, and Dr Bernard Gowers as a Lecturer in European Medieval History, to cover for Dr Alice Rio who is also on research leave.
Professor Arthur Burns’s visit to Wuhan University
September 2011 The Department's Professor Arthur Burns was a visiting lecturer at Wuhan University, China, for ten days in September 2011. As a guest of the Institute for World Historical Studies, he delivered a course of six lectures on British History after 1750 to a large audience of undergraduate and postgraduate students working on British history for which Wuhan, one of the top 10 universities in China, is an important centre. He also met independently with a number of postgraduate students who hope to visit the UK for their studies, and offered advice to others just starting out or well advanced in their research. These contacts build on his earlier visit to China in 2009 for the British Chinese History Conference at Peking University, Beijing, and existing links with a student at Wuhan working in his particular field. Professor Burns says ‘It is really exciting to see how much interest in British history there is in China, and in particular to see how Wuhan’s Institute for World Historical Studies under the leadership of Professor Xiang Rong is exploiting digital resources to allow its students to engage with primary sources in ways hitherto impossible at such a distance. It was a privilege to teach such excellent and engaged students, and I look forward to remaining in touch with both the students and faculty who made me so welcome at Wuhan alongside the contacts I have already made in the Chinese academic community.’
Professor Arthur Burns is always happy to hear from and advise Chinese or other international students interested in studying at King’s.
Professor Carpenter wins King’s Award
September 2011 Congratulations to the Department's Professor David Carpenter, who won the 2011 King’s Award ‘Research project of the year’ for Henry III Fine Rolls. The 2011 King’s Awards reception took place on 21 September in the Weston Room at the Maughan Library. For the fifth year, members of the College community gathered to celebrate the achievements of staff, students and alumni. Further details on the King’s Awards 2011.
Hearts and Minds: The Portuguese Colonial Wars, the Muslim Question and the Counter-insurgency campaign in Mozambique
September 2011 On Tuesday 20 September 2011 the book launch of Moçambique: Memória Falada do Islão e da Guerra co-authored by the department's AbdoolKarim Vakil took place in Lisbon, Portugal. Presenting the book, Professor Eduardo Costa Dias of the African Studies Centre of ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute, described it as ‘a book unique in the Portuguese field, and compulsory reading for anyone with an interest in colonial policy in Mozambique during the colonial wars or in the Muslim question in that period’. Read the full story.
Medieval postgraduate conference awarded AHRI funding
August 2011 The History Department is pleased to announce that Revealing Records has been awarded a grant from the King’s Arts and Humanities Research Institute (AHRI) for the second consecutive year.
Bringing together doctoral students from across the UK and Europe, the Revealing Records conference series offers an unrivalled opportunity for postgraduates to share approaches and experiences, develop skills in the examination of medieval records, and thereby advance research.
Organised by Dhwani Patel, Michael Gledhill and William Stewart-Parker, Revealing Records IV will take place on 25 May 2012, featuring keynote papers from Dr Serena Ferente (King's) and Professor Simon Keynes FBA (Cambridge). The closing address will be delivered by Professor Anne Duggan (King's).
Thanks to a generous grant from the Graduate School, video podcasts of RRIV will be made available via iKing’s. These will provide a valuable and innovative training resource for not only students within the Department, but also more broadly throughout the School of Arts and Humanities.
For further information about Revealing Records, including podcasts of last year’s conference, please visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/history/events/conf/reveal/reveal.aspx or email revealingrecords@gmail.com.
NMSI Trustee role for Professor Jordanova
August 2011 The Department of History is delighted to announce that Professor Ludmilla Jordanova has been appointed a Trustee of the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI). Professor Jordanova said: ‘It is a great honour to be appointed a Trustee of the National Museum of Science and Industry. This major national and international institution plays a central role in bringing an understanding of science, medicine and technology - and their fascinating pasts - to wider publics. As a historian of science and medicine who works with images and artefacts, I feel great enthusiasm for all the main sites in York, Bradford and London, and look forward to making a contribution to an organisation that is so rich in terms of resources and research.’ Read the full press release.
Dr Baxter’s documentary on medieval children
August 2011 On Wednesday 24 August 2011 at 21:00, BBC Four broadcast Too Much, Too Young: Children of the Middle Ages, a documentary in which Dr Stephen Baxter took a fresh look at the Middle Ages through the eyes of children. Dr Baxter said: 'This has been an exciting project to work on. It has given me a completely new perspective on the medieval world. My research is mainly concerned with the origins and consequences the Norman Conquest - a world of power politics, dominated by adults. So the programme gave me a chance to look at some extraordinary, and often very moving evidence for the first time.' Further programme information.
Henry III Fine Rolls: end of project conference
July 2011 On 24 and 25 June 2011 the Henry III Fine Rolls Project held its end of project conference Between Magna Carta & the Parliamentary State: The Fine Rolls of Henry III, 1216-72 in the Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre at King's. The project, which begun in 2005, was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and drew together experts from the Department of History at King's, The National Archives and Christ Church Canterbury University. All technical work on the project was carried out by the Department of Digital Humanities at King's. Scholars from across Britain and abroad came together to give talks that can now be listened to online as podcasts. ‘The talks showed the new and graphic light shed by the fine rolls on politics, government and society in the hinge period of English history between Magna Carta and the parliamentary state’, comments Professor David Carpenter, director of the project and Chair in Medieval History at King's.
On 24 and 25 June 2011 the held its end of project conference in the Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre at King's. The project, which begun in 2005, was funded by the (AHRC) and drew together experts from the at King's, The National Archives and Christ Church Canterbury University. All technical work on the project was carried out by the at King's. Scholars from across Britain and abroad came together to give talks that can now be . ‘The talks showed the new and graphic light shed by the fine rolls on politics, government and society in the hinge period of English history between Magna Carta and the parliamentary state’, comments , director of the project and Chair in Medieval History at King's.
A reception in the Weston Room was attended by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, one of England’s most senior judges. Surrounded by memorials to his predecessors, Lord Neuberger, in his speech, praised the Henry III Fine Rolls Project as a model of its kind. He also reflected on the close connection between his office and the fine rolls, which goes back to the reign of Henry III (1216-1272), when the occupant was in charge of keeping the chancery rolls, of which the fine rolls were the earliest. Lord Neuberger also explained the equally close connection between his office and the King's Maughan Library in Chancery Lane. The library is built on the site of the house for Jews converted to Christianity founded by Henry III, the buildings of which were taken over by the Master of the Rolls and used as his London residence. Hence the Weston Room now houses the memorials to former Masters of the Rolls once in the house’s chapel. Photos of the reception have been uploaded to the History facebook page.
PhD student Sophie Ambler awarded Thornley Fellowship
June 2011 Congratulations to Sophie Ambler who has been awarded a 2011 Thornley Fellowship by the Institute of Historical Research (IHR). In Sophie's own words, ' I’m delighted to have been awarded the Thornley fellowship, which will enable me to expand the scope of my thesis by pursuing a comparative approach in my research. I look forward to contributing to life at the IHR, which has played such an important role in my training since I began attending seminars and using the library several years ago at the start of my MA at King’s. I would like to thank the IHR for providing me with this opportunity and my supervisors Professor David Carpenter (King’s) and Professor David d’Avray (UCL) for their support.' Sophie is currently doing a PhD in the Department on 'The English Church, the Papacy and the Montfortian Rebellion'.
Postgraduate conference podcasts go online
June 2011 Revealing Records III, a postgraduate conference focusing on medieval sources, was hosted by the Department of History with the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Institute at King’s and the Royal Historical Society on 27 May 2011. In an exciting development this year, conference papers are now available as podcasts on the King’s website, enabling those who were unable to attend the event to listen to the key-note papers delivered by Professor Peter Heather (King’s) and Professor Nicholas Vincent FBA (UEA), alongside those given by ten postgraduate students from the University of London, Queen’s Belfast, Cambridge, Sheffield, UEA, Florence, Stirling and Swansea. Read the full press release.
PhD student James Connolly awarded Scouloudi Fellowship
June 2011 Congratulations to James Connolly who has been awarded a 2011 Scouloudi Fellowship by the Institute of Historical Research (IHR). In James's own words, 'I am absolutely delighted to have been offered the Scouloudi Fellowship, which will allow me to continue working on my thesis and preparing publications, as well as to contribute more fully to the wider historical community. IHR Fellowships provide a great opportunity for young researchers at the start of their career, and as such I am extremely grateful and honoured to become a Fellow. I would also like to thank the King's History Department and in particular my supervisor, whose support and encouragement was crucial to securing this Fellowship.' James is currently doing a PhD in the Department under the supervision of Professor Richard Vinen on 'Encountering Germany: Northern France and the Experience of Occupation during the First World War'. Professor Vinen said: 'this is excellent news. These highly prestigious awards provide an ideal springboard into academic life. James is to be congratulated.'
PhD student Fern Riddell wins seminar prize
June 2011 Congratulations to Fern Riddell who has been awarded the first Department of History research seminar prize for her paper 'Crime, Community and the London Music Halls 1855-1913', given on 8 March 2011. In Fern's own words, 'this is the first paper that I have ever given and it was amazing to have that experience within the Department at King's. It's such a supportive atmosphere, and getting feedback from other academics and students at the end helped me to see parts of the research that needed a clearer explanation, and also gave me more confidence in the work overall. I am overjoyed to be receiving this award, it's a real privilege and I still can't quite believe it!' Fern is currently doing a PhD in the Department under the supervision of Dr Paul Readman, on 'Vice and Virtue: Pleasure, Morality and Sin in the British Music Halls 1840-1939'.
Dr Ian McBride wins Teaching Excellence Award
May 2011 Congratulations to Dr Ian McBride who has been awarded a 2011 Teaching Excellence Award. These awards, now in their ninth year, provide King's students with an opportunity to recognise teaching staff across the College, and students are invited to nominate a member of staff or a group of staff for the awards. This year 287 staff members were nominated for the awards, with 1,214 staff and students taking part in the nominations process. Dr Ian McBride teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department of History, and the modules he teaches include The Northern Ireland Troubles and Enlightenment & Revolution: Political Thought in the British Isles 1688-1800.
PhD student Adam Crymble wins Lion's Den prize
April 2011 Congratulations to History PhD student Adam Crymble, who was on the 2010-11 Lion's Den winning team along with Mona Sandkühler and Mark Taylor. The team was awarded the Lion’s Den Development prize of £7,000 to take forward their real business idea MyScholar, which aims to provide online, personalised, one-on-one maths tutoring to students across the UK. In Adam's own words, 'the Lion's Den has been a wonderful introduction to business principles and has given me tools to succeed outside of the traditional academic model.' This is the second year in a row that a History PhD student has been on the winning team. Read more.
More History news
More History news stories: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/depts/history/news/