Research Interests

My PhD thesis - Community, de-industrialisation, and post-industrial regeneration in a Merseyside town: St. Helens, 1968-2018 - examined the impact of de-industrialisation and urban regeneration on (working-class) communities in 20th/21st century England.

Alongside my thesis, I worked, in conjunction with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, on a community oral history of Binley colliery in Coventry. I published an article about this project in the Oral History journal in 2024.

I have also published about pedagogy, regarding the experiences of postgraduates who teach and the concept of student archives. I have led research projects on the history of the Arts Faculty at Warwick and on the development of Active Bystander training for PGRs who teach. I was part of the initial team behind the Warwick Postgraduate Teaching Community. This project has been recognised internally with a collaborative Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence in 2022 and nationally with an AdvanceHE CATE award in 2024.

Since finishing my thesis, I have developed work in the area of sports history. A piece on the links between rugby league and community was published in 'The British Working-Class: Identity(-ies), Representations, (Re)definition', a 2024 special edition of the Université Côte d'Azur's Etudes Anglophones journal, Cycnos.

Linked to my thesis research, interest in oral history, and previous work at the Modern Records Centre, I am working on an article about labour history archives for the Historical Studies in Industrial Relations journal, provisionally titled 'For research purposes and for posterity: the founding and early development of the Modern Records Centre'.

Selected Publications

As sole author

Articles

• 'Building community through environmental regeneration: Operation Groundwork', Urban History (2024).
  Currently available online; coming soon in the journal's print edition.
• 'Coal and community: an oral history of Binley colliery', Oral History, 52:2 (2024), 121-132.
  Read a pre-publication version of the manuscript. 
• '"It's a good job that we've got a damn good rugby team, otherwise we'd have nothing to be hopeful about": rugby league and working-class community in de-industrialising England', Cycnos, 39:1 (2024), 99-124.
  See a preview on the publisher's website.
• 'There's no 'I' in Teams: creating community in the online classroom', Journal of PGR Pedagogic Practice, 1 (2021), 33-39.
• 'Best practice versus reality: Arts at Warwick, coronavirus, and remote interviewing in oral history', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021), 113-125.
• 'Strike at Pilkingtons: 50 years on', North West Labour History, 45 (2020), 53-59.
• 'Queens of the coal age: Lancashire Women Against Pit Closures and the Parkside Pit Camp, 1992-94', North West Labour HistoryLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 44 (2019), 12-16.

Blogs and Other

• 'Learning and teaching in the archives', SMLC Blog (December 2024)
• 'Coal and community: an oral history of Binley Colliery', Oral History Society Blog (April 2022)
• 'Town centre regeneration, community, and the involvement of local residents'Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, Centre for the History of Retail and Distribution (CHORDLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window) Conference Blogs (University of Wolverhampton, 2019)
• 'Review of La prison des pauvres: l'expérience des workhouses en AngleterreLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window' (IHR Reviews in History, 2018)

I have also written a selection of pieces about PhD Life for the University of Warwick Library's blog.

As co-author

Articles & Chapters

• 'The Modern Records Centre: fifty years on', Exchanges, 11:4 (2024), 1-13 (with Rachel MacGregor)
• 'The opportunities and challenges of the student archive: Then&Now: Arts at Warwick', 77-104 in: Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano, Maida Gruden, Andrija Stojanovic (eds.), They:Live. Exploring Student Lives Through Photography, Oral History, and Context-Based Art, (Tirant Humanidades, Valencia, 2024) (with Dr. Josh Patel, Lauren Sleight, Dr. Kathryn Woods)
• 'From pit head to wildlife haven: Binley Colliery and Claybrookes Marsh nature reserve (Coventry)', Northern Mine Research Society Newsletter, (February 2022), 4-5 (with Daniel Loveard, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust)
• 'Then & Now: Arts at Warwick student project: co-creation in the Covid-19 crisis', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021), 55-75 (with Dr. Kathryn Woods)
• 'Then & Now: Arts at Warwick introduction', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021), 1-8 (with Dr. Kathryn Woods)

Other

• 'Memories of Binley Colliery: An Oral History Project', (2021), 16pp., with Daniel Loveard (Warwickshire Wildlife Trust), Dan Smith, Fu Ge Yang, Kiera Evans, Amy Halliday (University of Warwick)

As (co-)editor

• 'Special Issue: MRC@50', Exchanges, 11:4 (2024)
• 'Pilot launch issue: postgraduate pandemic pedagogies', Journal of PGR Pedagogic Practice, 1 (2021)
• 'Special Issue: Then & Now: Arts at Warwick', ExchangesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, 8:4 (2021)

Selected Conferences and Presentations

As speaker

• 6 March 2024, 'Interdisciplinary publishing: what is it?!', panel discussion for the Institute of Advanced Study (University of Warwick)
• 16 January 2023, 'De-industrialisation, community, and sport in the 20^th and 21^st centuries’, History Department Work-in-Progress Series (University of Warwick)
• 16 December 2022, ‘Rugby League and working-class community in St. Helens and England in the 20^th and 21^st centuries’, The British Working-Class Since the 18^th Century: Identity(-ies), Representations, (Re)definitions (Université Côte d’Azur, France)
• 24-26 August 2022, 'This sporting life: community, de-industrialisation, and Rugby League in St. Helens', - British Society for Sports History (De Montfort University)
• 4 July 2022, 'People have the power? Public participation and urban regeneration in St. Helens', Society for the Promotion of Urban Discussion (SPUD) XVI
• 1 December 2021, 'Memories of Binley Colliery' (with Daniel Loveard, Dan Smith, Fu Ge Yang, and Kiera Evans), Warwick Oral History Network Research Seminar (University of Warwick)
• 30 August-3 September 2021, 'Community involvement in post-industrial environmental regeneration in St. Helens, the North-West, and England: Operation Groundwork', ELHN-WORCK Joint Conference (University of Vienna/online)
• 10 May 2021, 'Connecting a Teaching Community: PGR Digital Teacher Hub' (with Sara HattersleyLink opens in a new window, Josh Patel,Link opens in a new windoMateo MazzamurroLink opens in a new window, Matt HarwoodLink opens in a new window), TEALFestLink opens in a new window (Technology Enhanced Active Learning Festival, University of Warwick)
• 7-8, 14-15 November 2020, 'Community After Closure: A Case Study of St. Helens, Merseyside', North American Conference on British Studies 2020 (online)
• 23-25 September 2020, 'Building community through regeneration in St. Helens, Merseyside', Building Welfare States: New Approaches to Architecture, Community, and Planning in Twentieth Century Britain (University of Warwick/online)
• 5-6 July 2019, 'A tale of two ranches? From John Wayne to JR Ewing: de-industrialisation and changes to work in St. Helens, Merseyside', Oral History@Work: Recording Change in Working Lives (Oral History Society Annual Conference, Swansea University)
• 27 June 2019, 'Building communities? Urban development in industrial and post-industrial St. Helens', - Urban Identities: Past and Present (Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick)
• 9 May 2019, 'Representing local interests in post-industrial town centre regeneration: a case study of St. Helens, Merseyside', Retailing and Community: The Social Dimensions of Commerce in Historical Perspective (Centre for the History of Retailing and Distribution, University of Wolverhampton)
• 25-26 October 2018, 'Seeking continuity in a period of change: resisting industrial decline and post-industrial regeneration', The Pursuit of Legitimacy Power and its Manifestations in Political History (Leiden University, Holland)
• 31 May-1 June 2018, 'Resisting de-industrialisation through memory: a case study of St. Helens, Merseyside', History Postgraduate Conference (University of Warwick)
• 23 May 2018 'Oral history: a chorus of disciplines', Questioning the Disappearance of Disciplinary Boundaries (Annual PG Symposium of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick)

As (co-)organiser

• 20 September 2023, The MRC at 50: Research Informed and Inspired by the Modern Records Centre, organiser (University of Warwick)
• 7 April 2022, Creating and working with oral historical sources, workshop chair and co-organiser (University of Leicester/Midlands4Cities)
• Ongoing co-organiser of the Warwick Oral History Network Reading Group (run jointly with colleagues at MONASH).

I have also acted as a panel chair for reading groups for the Warwick Modern History Reading Group and Queer History Warwick, and as a panel chair for the Politics of Sedition in the Long Nineteenth Century.

Qualifications

• 2022, DPhil, History, University of Warwick
• 2017, MA (Bac+5), Etudes Anglophones, Université Nice-Sophia-Antipolis
• 2015, BA(Hons), French & History, University of Warwick

Previous Positions

• 2023, Outreach & Widening Participation Officer, Modern Records Centre
• 2022-23, Doctoral Training Manager, Faculty of Arts, University of Warwick
• 2021-22, Postgraduate Development Officer, Doctoral College, University of Warwick