Community history and heritage
I have played a pioneering role in developing community-facing history teaching in UK universities and was awarded a prestigious Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship in 2015 in recognition of my work in this area.
I have taught community history at SHU for many years, supervising student collaborations with community history groups in South Yorkshire and nationally. For example, my students contributed oral history interviews to the history project at Kiveton Park and Wales and to the ‘Forward to Freedom’ archive of the history of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement.
I have a keen interest in the positive impact of their involvement in the production of public, community and creative histories, in terms of creating a sense of belonging among first-generation university history students.
I have collaborated with community history groups over many years. For example, I wrote the New Dictionary of National Biography entry for Mary Anne Rawson, Sheffield anti-slavery activist, in support of local campaigns for her commemoration. I have also developed and led a Sheffield city walk exploring the life of activist and sex reformer Edward Carpenter (1844-1929).
I have been invited to work in a consultancy capacity at other UK universities, most recently at the University of Oxford in support of their plans to develop a Centre for Community History. (Images are from this event, courtesy of Rav Singh, February 2024.)
I am available for collaborative projects and consultation work.