Joseph Price
Research
The Making of Sexual Health at University: Students, Sex and Society in Postwar England
I am a first-year PhD student researching discourses and experiences of sexual health at English universities in the post-war period. Although universities have provoked public debates and opposition regarding youth sexuality and sexual health, their historical role in these issues remains underexplored. My project aims to fill this gap by examining how universities and their students shaped the concept of sexual health and responded to changing sexual cultures and sexual politics across the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. My work explores how the concept of sexual health, its practices and discourses have been produced and shaped by universities and its students, and how these have been perceived, adopted, and resisted by young people since the Second World War.
I am supervised by Professor Mathew Thomson, Dr Claudia Stein and Dr Anne Hanley.
The project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Research Interests
- History of sexuality
- History of medicine
- LGBTQ+ history
- Gender history
Publications
Journal Articles
'The HIV/AIDS Epidemic and the University of Warwick, 1987-1994', Midland History, 2 (2024), 225-243
'The CIRCLE care home guide: a co-designed resource on LGBTQ+ inclusion for care homes', Health Expectations (forthcoming)
'The Making Of “Underserved Communities” in the UK: A Critical Reflection on Language in Health Research' (forthcoming)
'Involving underserved communities in mental health research: A qualitative study in Kent, UK' (forthcoming)
Blog Posts
‘It’s a Sin - COVID-19’, History at Northampton Blog (March 2021)
‘How to find primary sources related to homosexuality in the nineteenth century in the National Archives’, History at Northampton Blog (March 2021)
‘A story of solidarity: Miners and the Gay Community’, History at Northampton Blog (July 2020)
Conferences & Presentations
'Constructing the Sexual Self at University: Students, Autonomy, and Responsible Sexuality in a Postwar British University', Being Human: Individualism and the Self from the Renaissance to the 21st Century, University of Warwick, February 2025
'Engaging people with severe mental illness in Kent with mental health research', INTERACT: Mental Healthcare in Kent, Turner Contemporary, Margate, April 2024
‘Student Sex and Sexual Health at the University of Warwick, 1984-1994', The MRC at 50 Symposium, Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick, September 2023
Research Experience
Research Assistant, Centre for Health Service Studies, University of Kent (November 2023 - September 2024)
- Project 1: Engaging Underserved Communities in Kent with Mental Health Research
- A research project looking at ways to increase levels of participation of those with severe mental illness in Kent with mental health research. Funded by CRN KSS
- Project 2: Creating Inclusive Residential Care for LGBTQ+ Elders (CIRCLE).
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A research project aiming to understand how providers of residential care for older people can improve their LGBTQ+ inclusive care offer. Funded by NIHR ARC KSS
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Awards & Prizes
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Awarded Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) doctoral studentship funding (2024)
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Awarded Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Midlands4Cities (M4C) doctoral studentship funding, but declined for ESRC funding (2024)
- Winner of the 2023 Midlands History Essay Prize Competition
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Winner of the University of Northampton BA History dissertation prize (2022)
Academic Profile
- 2024-2028: PhD in History, University of Warwick
- Thesis title: The Making of Sexual Health at University: Students, Sex and Society in Postwar England
- 2022-2023: MA in History of Medicine, University of Warwick (with distinction)
- Thesis title: (Un)Safe Sex on Campus: Discourses on risk and the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the University of Warwick, 1987-1994
- 2019-2022: BA in History, University of Northampton (first-class)
- Thesis title: Sodomites in London, 1698-1750: Identity, Pleasure, and Pain