‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’, Part 3: ‘Why archivists digitise, and why it matters’
In this third post in our ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ series, we hear from Anna Mcnally who is a qualified archivist with twenty years of professional experience. Here, Anna considers the development of digitised archives from the early 2000s, the behind-the-scenes work of digital archives, and how — positively and negatively — this influences the work we’re able to do as historical researchers.
Teaching the early modern Islamic World
In July 2022, Peter Good received one of two Jinty Nelson Teaching Awards given annually by the Royal Historical Society. In this post, for the Society’s ‘Teaching Portal’, Peter reflects on his classroom practice, and how he seeks to communicate the histories of early Modern Europe and the Islamic World to his students. Launched in 2020, the Teaching Portal now offers more than 60 articles and guides for History students and teachers in Higher Education.
‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’, Part 2: ‘Tools for the Trade: And how historians can make the most of them’
We continue our new series – ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ – with a guide to understanding and building digital tools for historians, from Professor William J. Turkel, an experienced creator of digital resources to perform and communicate research. William explains how historians should conceptualise projects when seeking to use digital tool or, indeed, create their own digital resources. This post is Part 2 of our digital history series, hosted by Ian Milligan.
Futures for the History Journal
In December 2022 the Society held a panel discussion on the value, contribution and future of the journal in History publishing and communication. The event brought together editors, publishers, writers and readers to review the place of journals and the impact of recent and ongoing changes in the publishing environment. The event offers an insight into journals, and their future, from the perspective of their creators and editors.
Disability History Month 2022: reflections on recent research
To mark this year’s Disability History Month (16 November-16 December), Beckie Rutherford considers three recent monographs that have significantly contributed to the field of disability history: charting experience in the Soviet Union, the coal industry during industrial revolution, and the British empire. Beckie is an RHS Centenary Fellow for 2022-3, currently completing her PhD on the life stories of disabled women and their relationships to liberation movements in twentieth-century Britain. This is an exciting time to be a newly trained historian of disability, given growing interest in the subject and greater appreciation of its wide-ranging implications for understanding past societies.
Historical Research in the Digital Age – Part 1: ‘We Are All Digital Now’
With this post we begin a new six-part blog series — ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ — which explores historians’ use and understanding of the digital resources that shape modern research culture. The series is hosted by Professor Ian Milligan whose new book, ‘The Transformation of Historical Research in the Digital Age’, is now available as a free Open Access download from Cambridge University Press. In Part One, Ian introduces the series and considers the profusion of resources which have led many of us to become what he terms ‘digitised’ historians — even while our understanding and appreciation of digital technologies remains partial.
Black at Sussex
‘Black at Sussex’ is a five-year project which reflects on the history of the Black experience at Sussex University since its foundation in 1961. The project, which launched this autumn, sees Sussex academics and alumni working in partnership with two photographers – Charlie Phillips and Eddie Otchere. In this latest post to the Society’s ‘Writing Race’ series, Valerie Kporye introduces ‘Black at Sussex’ and a selection of the portraits taken so far.
What did people do all day in the seventeenth century?
In his new book, ‘The Diary of George Lloyd (1642-1718)’, Daniel Patterson provides a detailed insight into the ‘ordinary’ of early modern life. Daniel’s new Camden Series volume reclaims the life of George Lloyd, a Hampshire-born customs official active during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. A meticulous record of everyday existence, Lloyd’s diary is little known among historians. What it provides, in this first published edition, is a window on the daily preoccupations of a middling man: from religious worship and social connections to food, dress and selfhood.
150 years of Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (1872-2022)
November 2022 marks the 150th anniversary of the first volume of ‘Transactions of the Royal Historical Society’, our academic journal. A century and a half on, the latest ‘Transactions’ — published in this month — also sees significant changes to the content, scope and design of the journal. In this post, the RHS President, Emma Griffin, considers the journal’s origins and some of its major developments since the 1870s. In addition, Emma outlines the changes to Transactions from 2022: with a new editorial team, new design and a broader range of article types — as well as an invitation to all historians t
The Glasgow Sugar Aristocracy: Quantifying Caribbean Slavery’s Historic Connections and Modern Legacies in Scotland
In his new book, ‘The Glasgow Sugar Aristocracy: Scotland and Caribbean Slavery, 1775-1838’, Stephen Mullen provides the first comprehensive study of Scotland’s West India merchant elites and the economic legacy of Caribbean slavery on Scottish, and wider British, society. Stephen’s monograph, published on 10 November 2022, is the latest title in the Society’s ‘New Historical Perspectives’ book series, and is now available in paperback print and as a free Open Access download.
The Partition of British India: 75 Years On
On 1 November, broadcaster and journalist Kavita Puri gave the 2022 RHS Public History lecture, in association with Gresham College. Kavita’s lecture — ‘The Partition of British India: 75 Years On’ — explores the impact of dividing British India by recovering and sharing the life stories of British Asians today. Kavita’s lecture is now available to watch via the Gresham College website.
Studying history in a secure environment: legacies, challenges, opportunities
In July 2022, Rosalind Crone was awarded this year’s Royal Historical Society’s Innovation in Teaching Prize for ‘Exploring the History of Prisoner Education’, an open online course for the Open University which launches this month. The 8-session course surveys prison history and the place of education in that history, as well as providing educational content for those in secure environments. Here, Rosalind introduces her course and its engagement with the challenges, and opportunities, of higher education in secure environments.