History News

The Warwick University History Department seeks to appoint a Postgraduate and Research Coordinator on a full-time indefinite contract.

The Warwick University History Department is one of the largest history departments in the UK, with teaching and research notable for its disciplinary range and geographical scope. The Department is comprised of 53 academic staff, 17 postdoctoral staff, 10 support staff, ~1,000 undergraduate students, and ~100 postgraduate students. The Department has a strong international reputation and high rankings in university guides and surveys, and was ranked first in the UK in the last Research Excellence Framework (REF) for the proportion of world-leading research activity (4*) in the Department. The Department is committed to maintaining and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion amongst its staff and student community.

We are seeking to appoint a Postgraduate and Research Coordinator, responsible for the management and coordination of the support for postgraduate study in the History Department, including direct support to the Director of PGR Studies and the Director of PGT Studies, and for contributing to the support for research in the History Department. The successful candidate will possess relevant experience of working in an office environment within the HE sector, excellent interpersonal skills, strong organisational and planning skills, and the ability to use initiative and to work quickly and accurately under pressure to cope with competing priorities.

All applications must be accompanied by a CV and covering letter. For the full advert, job description, and a link to the application form, please see the Warwick University HR website. Please direct all informal enquiries to Jennifer Spalding at J.J.Spalding@warwick.ac.uk.

The closing date for applications is Monday 8th April 2019.

The provisional results of the Warwick University Students' Union 2019 elections have been announced.

Congratulations to all of the successful candidates, and particularly to History students Charlotte Lloyd, Warwick SU Sports Officer Elect, and Taj Ali, Warwick SU Ethnic Minorities Officer Elect. 523 History students voted in the elections, the largest turnout of all of the University's academic departments.

 
Professor J E Smyth (author of "Nobody's Girl Friday”; Professor of History at Warwick University), Karina Longworth (author of "Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood"; creator of the "You Must Remember This" podcast), and Victoria Riskin (author of "Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir"; former president, Writers Guild of America, West), were recently interviewed by KQED News:

A Retroactive #MeToo from Hollywood's Golden Age

In 2017, the #MeToo Movement began exposing Hollywood’s culture of sexual violence, which then broadened into a global rallying cry. But sexual coercion and abuse has long had a place in Hollywood as three recently-released books attest. The books examine the working conditions of women during Hollywood's Golden Age and the abuses of casting couch predators like Howard Hughes and Harry Cohn. We'll talk with the authors about the vast contributions - and challenges - for women in the studio era.

Please see the KQED News website for the full interview podcast.

The Warwick University History Department seeks to appoint a Department Administrator on a full-time indefinite contract.

The Warwick University History Department is one of the largest history departments in the UK, with teaching and research notable for its disciplinary range and geographical scope. The Department is comprised of 53 academic staff, 17 postdoctoral staff, 10 support staff, ~1,000 undergraduate students, and ~100 postgraduate students. The Department has a strong international reputation and high rankings in university guides and surveys, and was ranked first in the UK in the last Research Excellence Framework (REF) for the proportion of world-leading research activity (4*) in the Department. The Department is committed to maintaining and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion amongst its staff and student community.

We are seeking to appoint a Department Administrator with experience of successful administration and management in a complex, customer-facing environment, ideally in higher education. The successful candidate will be a key member of the Department’s management team, working across the full breadth of the Department’s operations, supporting the Head of Department in developing the strategic priorities of the Department, and having lead responsibility for all administrative operations of the Department. This role represents an excellent opportunity for the successful candidate to hone and expand their existing skills, and to further their professional development in a busy and stimulating environment.

All applications must be accompanied by a CV and covering letter. For the full advert, job description, and a link to the application form, please see the Warwick University HR website. Please direct all informal enquiries to Robert Horton at R.S.Horton@warwick.ac.uk.

Closing date for applications: 25th March 2019

Dr Claire Shaw (University of Warwick) is the recipient of the 2018 BASEES Women’s Forum Book Prize for her book Deaf in the USSR: Marginality, Community, and Soviet Identity, 1917-1991 (Cornell University Press, 2017). The judges, Barbara Heldt and Dan Healey, issued the following citation:

‘From the beginning of the Soviet era, the social power of the deaf, their agency and autonomy, was tied to sovietness. This statement, however, oversimplifies a complex history, which Claire Shaw explicates in remarkable detail, drawing on both published and archival sources. Her book expands the scope of our understanding of behaviours and identity in Soviet history, while also providing glimpses into the pre-revolutionary and post-Soviet eras. How deaf identity has been marked by separateness v. inclusion, the status of sign language, the dignity of work, criminality, gender and many other issues will make this landmark study a classic read.’

For more details, please see the BASEES website's press release.

 
The Warwick University History Department wishes everyone a happy Chinese New Year, particularly those staff and students, past and present, with a Chinese background or connection. We hope that 2019, the Year of the Pig, will be a great year for everyone.

 
Potato (Object Lessons), published by Bloomsbury, is a new publication from Professor Rebecca Earle.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

Baked potatoes, Bombay potatoes, pommes frites . . . everyone eats potatoes, but what do they mean? To the United Nations they mean global food security (potatoes are the world's fourth most important food crop). To 18th-century philosophers they promised happiness. Nutritionists warn that too many increase your risk of hypertension. For the poet Seamus Heaney they conjured up both his mother and the 19th-century Irish famine.

What stories lie behind the ordinary potato? The potato is entangled with the birth of the liberal state and the idea that individuals, rather than communities, should form the building blocks of society. Potatoes also speak about family, and our quest for communion with the universe. Thinking about potatoes turns out to be a good way of thinking about some of the important tensions in our world.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's current academic staff are available online, and the details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's emeritus academic staff are also available online.

 
Dear Warwick history students,

I was intending to write to you tomorrow to let you know that after five years serving as an outstanding head of department, Professor Dan Branch will be stepping down to become the Chair of the Faculty of Arts. I’ll be taking over as department head, and I wanted to say hello.

The need to write to you has however become much more urgent.

I am sure you are aware of the continuing and distressing situation resulting from last year's group chats. You may have seen the University’s official statement, as well as the multiple reports in the press. The department is deeply concerned about the impact of these recently-reported events on our community.

We in the department have tried hard to provide as much moral and academic support as we can to the individuals affected by this case. We will continue to work to limit its impact on the studies of the women involved, and also to provide the necessary structures to support this. This has been a priority since the incidents first came to light.

We also recognise the need to address the challenges posed to the department as a whole.

Although the department had absolutely no input into the disciplinary cases, and although we are bound by a legal requirement to uphold the confidentiality of all students involved, we feel a pressing need to make sure that our students have a chance to fully express their views on this case.

We are currently in discussion with the University with the aim of organising a series of meetings for you to meet with representatives from the administration who can answer questions about the situation and listen to your concerns. Your legitimate and very understandable unhappiness need to be addressed right now. We will also work to design the necessary mechanisms to ensure that next academic year is not blighted by the after-effects of the toxic events of last year.

When the case first received public attention last summer, Dan Branch wrote to all of you to stress the department’s commitment to supporting any student who experiences misogyny, racism, homophobia or any other form of prejudice. Any such behaviour is unacceptable and runs contrary to the ethos of the department. This commitment remains central to our principles as a community. Please contact your personal tutor or myself if there is anything that you wish to bring to our attention, whether that be something that you have been subjected to yourself or have witnessed.

I’ll be writing again as soon as I have details about the meetings we are hoping to set up.

Many thanks,

Rebecca Earle