Race, Ethnicity and Equality at the RHS
The Royal Historical Society (RHS) published its report, Race, Ethnicity and Equality in UK History, in October 2018. The Report highlighted racial and ethnic inequalities in the teaching and practice of History in the UK.
The 2018 Report drew attention to the underrepresentation of ‘Black and Minority Ethnic’ (BME) students and staff in university History programmes, the substantial levels of race-based bias and discrimination experienced by such historians in UK universities, and the negative impact of narrow school and university curriculums on diversity and inclusion. The report, a key component of the Society’s 150th anniversary programme, was founded upon a year of research and a survey of over 700 university-based historians.
Along with the two subsequent Roadmaps published in 2019 and 2020, the 2018 Report offers relevant, practical advice and guidance for academic historians on taking positive action to address and diminish barriers to equality in the discipline.
The Royal Historical Society continues to provide practical support where it’s most needed and impactful—often in partnership with organisations with shared aims. This work takes many forms, and continues to develop and evolve in response to circumstance. Further information on current projects is available here.
Click below for Society reports relating to race, ethnicity and equality (2018-22)
Recent blog posts on Race, Ethnicity and Equality
Social History From the Global South: New Voices from Southern Africa. Reflections on British Academy Funded Writing Workshop, University of the Free State, South Africa.
In February 2023, the University of the Free State, South Africa, hosted the workshop 'Social History from the Global South: New Voice from Southern Africa', funded by the British Academy. This workshop was organised to address the issue of research output in...
‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’, Part 5: ‘Digitising History from a Global Perspective; and what this tells us about access and inequality’
In this post we continue our series — ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ — which explores historians’ use and understanding of the digital tools and sources that shape modern research culture. The series explores the impact and implications of digital...
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...
Black at Sussex
This latest post of our 'Writing Race' Series introduces 'Black at Sussex' 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...
The Partition of British India: 75 Years On
On 1 November, the Society hosted its annual Public History Lecture, in association with Gresham College. We were delighted to welcome the BBC journalist and broadcaster, Kavita Puri, to give this year's lecture on the subject of 'The Partition of British...
Provisional Semantics: Studying Colonial Indian Photographs at the Imperial War Museums
In this latest post for the RHS 'Writing Race' series, Helen Mavin, Head of Photographs for the Imperial War Museums, discusses the challenges of creating national museum, gallery, and archive collections. In her role as Co-Investigator for the recent...