History News

Article on Maria Schmolka in the Observer, 10 November 2019 at:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/10/prague-honour-little-known-saviour-refugees-fleeing-nazis-marie-schmolka

Dr James Poskett recently featured as part of a new Audible short story collection, produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Collection. In Homeless Bodies and Other Stories, leading authors were paired with objects from the Wellcome Collection. In the third episode (“The Master and the Student”), James discusses a skull used by phrenologists with the author Haroun Khan.

The Midlands Graduate School open competition for studentships commencing in October 2020 is now open! Deadline for applications is Wednesday 22nd January 2020. Please note that there are several elements to the application process and applicants should allow plenty of time to assemble all the information required.

The Midlands Graduate School DTP makes an annual award of a large number of studentships to outstanding applicants across the Social Sciences. The studentships are linked to disciplinary and inter-disciplinary training pathways, and some have a built-in element of collaboration.

For any students thinking of applying for AHRC Midlands4Cities funding to complete a PhD, an application workshop will be taking place on Saturday 16^th November at Coventry University. Details of the event can be found on the following page:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/midlands4cities-application-writing-workshop-coventry-tickets-76774172617

The workshops are aimed at potential students who are planning to submit an application for PhD research to Midlands4Cities. Practical advice will be given on how to plan your application and structure your research proposal.

You can attend any of the application writing workshops regardless of which M4C institution you are applying to.

We are excited to announce that the University of Warwick, together with Coventry University, is joining with the Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) consortium to create the Midlands4Cities AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) funded DTP.

The Midlands4Cities DTP will fund and train the next generation of highly skilled arts and humanities researchers through PhD Scholarships.

Our consortium partners are present in the four cities of Nottingham, Birmingham, Leicester and Coventry and are: University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University, De Montfort University, University of Leicester, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Nottingham and Coventry University.

For full details and eligibility criteria please see: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/cadre/prospectivestudents/scholarships/m4c

It is with sadness that we report the death of Humfrey Butters following a short illness. Those of us who knew him will have many memories of his many years of service in the department. It goes without saying that the Venice programme stands as an enduring reminder of his contributions to the university. He will be greatly missed. There will be a small family funeral followed by a memorial service later in the year. Some memories of Humfrey are gathered here.

The Peterloo Massacre took place on 16 August 1819 and is considered a landmark moment in the struggle for democracy in Britain. However, the number of people present at the Massacre may have been “significantly smaller” than previously thought, according to research by History PhD student Dave Steele.

The full article is available on the BBC HistoryExtra website.

In a first for Who Do You Think You Are?, father-and-son comedy double-act Jack and Michael Whitehall join forces to investigate their family tree. They discover the tragedy that left Jack’s great grandfather (Michael’s grandfather) an orphan. And tracing their line back to Wales in the 1830s, they find out about a Tory ancestor's role in opposing the Chartist movement for wider voting rights.

Professor Hilary Marland features in the programme, which is now available on BBC iPlayer.