Professor Hilary Marland of the Warwick University History Department has been shortlisted for AHRC's Health Humanities Medal, a new national award led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in association with the Wellcome Trust.

Professor Marland is one of five academics who has made the shortlist for the Leadership Award category, which recognises those who have demonstrated leadership within the field of health humanities. The Health Humanities Medal comprises five categories designed to celebrate the achievements of those who have helped to inform and transform the health and wellbeing of the nation through the use of arts and humanities research.

Commenting on the shortlisting Professor Marland, said: “This is a huge honour and I am delighted to have been short-listed for the Medal. Health humanities is an exciting field to work in and offers enormous scope to academics to combine research with public engagement.

"Working with my colleagues at Warwick, most recently on a Wellcome Trust funded project on health in prison, I have had the opportunity and support to engage in initiatives that draw on historical research to develop new ways of working with the arts, policy makers and a wide range of audiences.”

 
Peter Marshall, Professor of History at the University of Warwick, has won this year’s Wolfson History Prize with his book Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation (Yale University Press).

This year’s winner was selected from over 150 books by a panel of four eminent historians. Expert in Islamic history, Professor Carole Hillenbrand, of the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews, joined the judging panel this year alongside Professor Sir David Cannadine (Chair), Professor Sir Richard Evans and Revd Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch.

Please see http://www.wolfson.org.uk/history-prize/ for more details.

The History Department is saddened to learn of the passing of former student John Hardeman. John came to Warwick University as a part-time mature student and graduated with a BA in European History in 2009 and an MA in Global History in 2012. He was an enthusiastic and active member of the Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL), the History Department, the Alumni Association, and a frequent attendee of the part-timers lunches. John died on 19th April 2018 following complications after a fall at his home in February 2018. The Department's condolences go out to all of John's family and friends.

A display exploring the history and changing image of Britain's West India Regiments, from their creation at the end of the 18th century up to the First World War, is now open at the Museum of London Docklands. "Fighting for Empire: From Slavery to Military Service in the West India Regiments" has been curated by David Lambert, Professor of History at the University of Warwick. It will run until 9 September 2018. For details:

https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/whats-on/exhibitions/fighting-empire-slavery-military-service-west-india-regiments

The display speaks directly to many of the themes in the permanent displays at Docklands, notably enslaved resistance, black agency, and visual representation. The theme is explored primarily through prints, ephemera and maps, as well as a large framed oil painting by Louis William Desanges entitled "The Capture of the Tubabakolong, Gambia 1866", which depicts Private Samuel Hodge of the 4th West India Regiment, who was the first African-Caribbean soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross. It has been created in partnership with the University of Warwick and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and draws on research undertaken as part of the 'Africa's Sons Under Arms' research project. For more on the wider research project:

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/research/projects/asua

The Global History and Culture Centre has started a new blog. Read the first post, "Jeremy Adelman, ‘What is Global History Now’ – Global History Reading Group", posted today, Wednesday 8th November 2017.

The British Academy has opened the BA Post-Doctoral Fellowship scheme for applications this year.

Details are available at: https://www.britac.ac.uk/british-academy-postdoctoral-fellowships

The Department is pleased to announce that George Roberts will be starting a four-year Junior Research Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge this July. George first joined the History Department at Warwick as a PhD student in 2013, studying under the supervision of Professor David Anderson and Professor Daniel Branch. He defended his thesis, ‘Politics, decolonisation, and the Cold War in Dar es Salaam’, last September. Since then, he has since been working as a Teaching Fellow in Modern African History. In Cambridge, George is aiming to revise his thesis for publication as a monograph, and to begin a new project on the history of Marxism in Eastern Africa.

Workshop dates for the Intercultural Training programme are now available.

These workshops are open to all students at Warwick, with obvious benefit to students who are preparing for, or have recently returned from Study Abroad.

The History Department Student Fellowship Programme gives you the opportunity to join the History Department as a research assistant, student ambassador or blogger. Gain valuable skills and experience, learn more about the History Department, and earn a little extra cash!

See HERE for full details and application process.

Application deadline: Thursday 1 December 2016, by 6pm

 
The creative force behind films such as Platoon, Scarface, Born on the Fourth of July and Wall Street was conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. He officially received the honour from the University’s Vice Chancellor Professor Stuart Croft during a formal ceremony held on campus.

After the ceremony, the Academy Award winner put aside his academic robes to take part in an informal ‘in conversation’ interview in front of an invited audience. As well as discussing his past achievements he discussed his next project, “Snowden”, about Edward Snowden the US government contractor whose revelations were the start of a series of global surveillance disclosures. During the Warwick event Oliver Stone described the film as “a fascinating story- it tells you what’s going on, the new state of things.”

He was interviewed Dr J.E. Smyth of Warwick’s department of History who also organised the event. She said: “Oliver Stone is Hollywood’s most dedicated and influential political filmmaker. Throughout his career he’s asked tough questions about America and its legacies of greed, corruption, and imperialism. I’m delighted that the University of Warwick is honouring his career.”

During the conversation he discussed his repertoire of films and screenplays. He has written and directed over 20 full-length feature films, among them some of the most iconic films of the three decades. Many have been political and even controversial such as “Salvador” (1985), which revealed the U.S. government’s involvement in Central America; “Platoon” (1986), the first of his three Vietnam films; “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989); “JFK” (1991); “Natural Born Killers” (1994); and “Nixon” (1995).

Stone was born September 15, 1946 in New York City. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry in Vietnam in 1967-68, and was decorated with the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for Valor. After returning from Vietnam, he completed his undergraduate studies at New York University Film School in 1971. He worked as a taxi driver, merchant marine, messenger, advertising salesman, and production assistant before breaking through as a filmmaker. His script for “Midnight Express” (1978) earned him his first Academy Award and “Scarface” (1983) transformed the gangster genre and became a cult hit.

Though focused on controversial questions about the U.S., Stone’s films have a global audience and massive cultural impact, among them “Wall Street” (1987), an exposé of American capitalism; “World Trade Center” (2006), a true story of 2 (of only 20) 9/11 survivors; and “The Doors” (1991), a biopic of influential rock icon Jim Morrison. He has produced or co-produced a dozen films including “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996), “The Joy Luck Club” (1993), and “Reversal of Fortune” (1990).

Stone’s documentaries include three on Fidel Castro (“Comandante” (2003); “Looking for Fidel” (2004); and “Castro in Winter” (2012)); one on South America, “South of the Border” (2009), prominently featuring Hugo Chavez and six other Presidents in a continent undergoing huge social changes. He also made “Persona Non Grata” (2003) on Israel-Palestine relations.

His recent “The Untold History of the United States” (Showtime, 2012), is a 12-hour televised documentary series interrogating the conventional, triumphalist narrative of U.S. history. The companion book, co-written with Peter Kuznick, was a best seller.