News

The Centre for Economic History, University of Reading

Launch Event - The Centre for Economic History

'Crisis and change in historical perspective'

Friday 23^rd March 2012, ICMA Centre.

The Department of History's Film Season 2012

Attend our inaugural retrospective film season. In collaboration with Reading Film Theatre, the heart of independent cinema in Reading, we are showcasing four thought-provoking cinematic releases that have been specially chosen by historians in the Department of History. Our aim is to open a dialogue between film, historians and the general public, exploring the relationship between film and how history has been depicted for public viewing.

We have chosen these historically retrospective works from four different genres, (a play, an opera, a documentary and a contemporary cinematic work), which have all been picked specifically for their ground-breaking style, and their ability to capture the imagination. Each film will be introduced by an academic from the Department of History, they will also be leading a Q&A at the end of each film showing. The season will culminate in a lecture on film and history on Wednesday 21 March, which will be delivered by one of the foremost scholars of cinema in the country, Professor Jeffrey Richards.

We will begin with Kenneth Branagh's powerful adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V, which was chosen specifically for its passion and realism and its exploration of the timeless relationship between love and war. Our second film is the 2006 adaptation of The Magic Flute. Opera is often perceived to be intellectually inaccessible; we hope that by showing The Magic Flute we can demonstrate the appeal, beauty and power of this medium. Julian Temple's The Filth and the Fury is our third screening. This provocative documentary details the emergence of British punk and its impact on Britain and the wider world. Our final film is Gus Van Sant's Milk. This powerful biopic documents the political career, and subsequent assassination, of the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected to public office.

Ticket prices:

- £4.50 for students, RFT members and concs.

- £6.00 for non-members

Click here to see our flyer.  For further details go to our film season webpage http://www.reading.ac.uk/history/filmseason.aspx,.

We very much hope to see you in Palmer G10!

History UROP Placements 2012

Academics in the department have secured 2 UROP placements.  Dr Linda Risso's project will be on propaganda during the cold war and Dr Emily West's project will be on enslaved wetnursing in pre-civil war USA.

UROP placements provide exciting opportunities for undergraduates to work with academic staff on University research projects, contributing directly to the creation of knowledge and strengthening the link between teaching and research. Placements last six weeks over the summer break, or can be part-time into the autumn term.

As a student, a UROP placement makes a significant contribution to your transferable skills, employability and understanding of the research environment and you will also receive a bursary of £1,200. UROPs may encourage you to pursue a research career, but also provide skills and experience for other employment. Placements are undertaken in the summer before final year projects, boosting research skills and subject knowledge prior to dissertation writing.  The scheme is only open to University of Reading students in their penultimate year of study. If you are interested in applying for either of these projects contact SEECC

Our Award-Winning Students 

Erica Askew-Jones has been awarded the 2011 Chancellor's Award for outstanding academic achievement.  Only 80 awards are given each year, to those students who received the top marks in their subject area.

Read on to to find our Erica's experience of studying at Reading, and her highlights and ambitions.

What inspires you about your chosen subject of study?

History is continuous, and all history is contemporary. History defines who we are. It enables us to relate to the lives of our ancestors and shows us how societies became the way that they are today.

Why did you choose to come to Reading to study?

Reading was my choice of university primarily because of my course, although I was also attracted by its good reputation, attractive campus and location.

What was the highlight of 2010/11?

For me, the highlight of 2010/11 was results day - after the stress of the exam period, and work

throughout the year, it was a relief to finally find out what I had achieved.

What do you see yourself doing in five years time?

In five years' time, if I am fortunate, I would like to have found a position which will enable me both to work and to continue my studies.

Our Departmental Winners of 2011

PART ONE:

• Josephine Ayre (Peter Slee Prize for overall best performance in Part One)
• Lydia Malley  (Departmental Prize for the best performance in Directed Study)

PART TWO:

• Rachel Escott (Martyn Bendor-Samuel Memorial Prize for best overall performance in Part Two examinations)

PART THREE:

• Rachel Pender-Cudlip (Martyn Bendor-Samuel Memorial Prize for best overall performance at Finals)
• Harriet Mahood (Award for best History dissertation on a Berkshire subject)
• Lucinda White (Best Dissertation in History)

The Stenton Lecture 2011 'On the Limits of Democratic Art'

John Howard, Professor of American Studies, King's College London, 17 November 2011

The annual Stenton lecture explored what is meant by democratic art and examined how art has been used as a weapon by elites to maintain the prevailing social order of the day.
Abstract
During the late 1980s and early 1990s culture wars, art photography began to overtake painting and sculpture in major museums and galleries. Following the victories of second-wave feminism, black freedom struggles, and queer movements for social change, easily-reproduced photographic images documented new participants in the world of art, who in turn chose to use the camera to make art. Inexpensive art processes, activist art collectives, and large print-runs of exhibition catalogues and photobooks insured that art was more widely disseminated, helping to demystify and diversify the works on display.
However, elites fought back, insisting on older ideas about the artist's individual genius and the masterpiece's profound, almost inexpressible transcendence. They resisted cultural outsiders, championing instead more conservative photographers, whose themes, they claimed, were universal. They pushed back against the sixties and seventies revolutions, relying on trickery and deceit, such that even the work of William Eggleston, the so-called father of colour art photography, could be labelled democratic.

The History Photography Competition

The History department hosted our first photography competition, with stunning pieces submitted.  Reading University has a very lively and impressive Photographic Society, and they have taken some stunning new photographs for the History Department's website, in a competition funded by the University Arts Committee. 

To learn more about this exciting competiton, click here.

RUSU Gold Star award for Dr Matthew Worley

The department's Dr Matthew Worley was one of only six university staff members selected for a Gold Star Award by Reading University Students Union for 2011.  The award is for outstanding contributions to teaching and learning.  There were 365 nominations for the awards, with some members of staff being nominated by as many as 19 students.  Amongst the student comments about Dr Worley were 'he makes the subjects that he teaches interesting and engages the group with humour and a good level of discussion' and 'he is always willing to 'go the extra mile' for his students.'

Anti-War Protest Discussion Forum at the Imperial War Museum

Dr Emma Vickers and Reading History student Joshua Greenaway have taken part in an anti-war protest discussion forum at the Imperial War Museum in London.  Among the other panel members included Tony Benn and the broadcaster Alex Pascall.  The event was part of 'Hanging Out', a Heritage Lottery Fund sponsored educational project which aims to explore the cultural diversity of London in the 1950s and 1960s.  Details of the event including audioclips of protest songs and a short video clip of an anti-Vietnam war demonstration can be found at:

http://www.hangingout.org.uk/anti_war_forum.htm

Dr Jonathan Bell on US healthcare

Our head of department, Dr Jonathan Bell, has been speaking to BBC News about President Obama's healthcare reforms.  Dr Bell emphasized that access to healthcare was a critical economic and political issue in the United States, and was likely to feature heavily in the next US presidential elections.  A video clip of part of the interview with Dr Bell is available here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8579274.stm

Peter Parish Dissertation Prize winner 2010

Congratulations to Daniel Hale who has won the Peter Parish Dissertation Prize for his MA dissertation '"Persons of Greatest Credit": Executive Clemency in Texas, 1849-1865'.  This is a notable achievement given that this is a national prize and there is only a single winner each year.  The prize is awarded annually by BrANCH, the British Association of American Nineteenth Century Historians, for the best undergraduate or postgraduate dissertation on American nineteenth-century history. The judges commented that the dissertation was 'a well written investigation displaying rigorous research and sensitive handling of evidence', and particularly commended the section on slavery and the strong conclusion. 

Having completed the MA in Modern History last year, Daniel chose to stay on at Reading and is now studying part-time for a PhD. 

Martyn Bendor-Samuel Prize winner 2009-10

Pictured below is Robert Crosland (BA History, 1st class), winner of the Martyn Bendor-Samuel prize for best undergraduate dissertation 2009-10, celebrating his award with members of the Department (Robert is third from right). 

 

Martyn Bendor-Samuel Prize winner 2009-10

Pictured below is Ruth Salter (BA Classical and Medieval Studies, 1st class), winner of the Martyn Bendor-Samuel prize for best overall performance in Finals at History, celebrating her award with members of the Department (Ruth is second from right).

 

Recent Events:

Postgraduate Colloquium

The department of History held a Postgraduate Colloquium on Thursday 15th June 2010.  The Colloquium consisted in three sessions during which speakers spoke on a range of topics.

 

Half-day Symposium - 'Art and Landscape: Interdisciplinery Perspectives' 

A new exhibition, 'Looking at Landscape: colours and contours' opened at MERL on May 1st, looking at the ways in which the land provides a rich source of inspiration for artists, designers, mapmakers, and many others.

As part of the programme of events relating to this theme, the exhibition curator, Ollie Douglas, ran a half-day symposium entitled, 'Art and Landscape: interdisciplinery perspectives'  on May 18th.

The symposium brought together scholars from across the University and beyond to explore common threads and contrasting approaches to the broad theme of art and landscape.

 

Postgraduate Conference - 'Teaching, Preaching and Manipulating'

The Humanities department at the University of Reading held a postgraduate conference on  Thursday 10th June 2010, with speakers focusing on issues related to 'Preaching, Teaching and Manipulating'.  Philipa Hardman from the University of Reading was the keynote speaker who presented a paper entitled 'Learning Lessons in Middle English Romance'.

 

Iberia: a Medieval Golden Age

The Graduate center for Medieval Studies held a Summer Symposium from on the 23rd of June 2010. The Symposium featured seven speakers, each of whom spoke on an issue related to the topic of Iberia's Medieval Golden Age. 

 

Conference papers

Seven members of the BA War Child course run by Dr Martin Parsons;  Cathy Martindale, Sharon Natt, Hayley Bull, Ali Bathie, Elisabeth Patkai, Robert Crosland and David Crutchley, who gained first class marks in their end of module essay, were offered the opportunity to develop them into conference papers and address the 3rd International War Child conference held at Reading in September 2009.  Conference delegates from around the world were impressed by their scholarship and the confidence they demonstrated when giving their papers, all of which will be published in the forthcoming Children in War e-journal. Vol 6.

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 The Stenton Lecture - 'Collecting the Objects of History'

Thursday 12th November 2009, 1815 hrs

Agriculture Building, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading

The Stenton Lecture was given by Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum.

Neil MacGregor started his distinguished career as a lecturer in the Art History Department at the University of Reading before going on to be director of the National Gallery and then director of the British Museum.  Neil has reinforced and underlined the British Museum as a great world collection in a global context.  In the 2009 Stenton Lecture, Neil MacGregor addressed the issues, challenges and potential of using objects to construct a narrative of world history for the globalised 21st century.

 

The Stenton Symposium - 'Collecting the Objects of History: past historic, future imperfect?'

Thursday 12th November 2009, 1430 hrs

Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), Redlands Road, Reading

The symposium was a round table discussion on themes related to and implicit in the Stenton Lecture.  The symposium focussed on the issues and challenges of curating and presenting collections which were formed in the 18th century (antiquarian and 'Enlightenment' collections) or the 19th ('The Virtual Museum') or early 20th centuries, often with imperialist agendas, into the globalised 21st century.

Key note speakers included: Dr Alan Borg (previously Director of the V&A and Imperial War Museum), Dr Charles Gore (SOAS), Professor Deborah Swallow (Director, Courtauld Institute) and Dr John Whiteley (The Ashmolean).

The symposium took place at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) on London Road, Reading.   

James Moore presents on 'What Darwin means to me'

On 11 February 2010, James Moore, arguably the most influential of Darwin's many biographers, gave a talk in Reading.  He reflected on his many years of Darwin scholarship and explored the question 'What Darwin means to me'.  The meeting doubled as the inaugural meeting of Reading's new, interdisciplinary, Darwin reading group.

 

Visit of Dr Mark Edele, University of Western Australia

In February 2010 Dr Mark Edele, UWA, made an exchange visit to the Department of History, University of Reading.  He is the author of Soviet veterans of the Second World War (OUP, 2008).  He is about to finish a new more general study for OUP on the Stalinist dictatorship.  Mark was booked by the Historical Association to give one of their talks at Reading and led a staff postgraduate seminar and did some teaching in Professor Richard Bosworth's Historicizing Auschwitz course, as well as giving academic papers in London and Oxford.

Research Seminar - 'What's American about America?'

17 March 2010, 4.30 pm, HUMSS 142, Humanities Building, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading

Professor Michael Rockland, Rutgers University

'John Kouwenhoven's Classic, 1954 Essay, "What's American about America?" and a 2010 Update'

Research Seminar - 'The Medieval Land Market'

10 March, 1.15 pm, HUMSS 142, Humanities Building, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading

Dr Margaret Yates, University of Reading

'The Medieval Land Market'