History@Portsmouth

University of Portsmouth's History Blog

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The hidden heritage of a naval town: women’s community activism in Portsmouth since 1960

By on February 23, 2021 in Public History, Research in Focus, Uncategorized

As a naval town, Portsmouth’s history has tended to have a masculine focus.  But many Portsmouth women have actively campaigned for women’s rights and set up practical initiatives in the Portsmouth area to improve the lives of women. A Heritage Lottery Fund grant enabled the setting up of a project to interview these women and capture their stories.  UoP history reader Sue Bruley was one of the project leaders.  Project co-lead Laurel Forster, Reader in Cultural history in the UoP School of Film, Media & Communication explains more about the project and its outcomes. The main aim of this project was to document the activism of  women in the Portsmouth […]

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Enjoy your adventures in history at Portsmouth – don’t let coronavirus put you off

By on October 5, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Uncategorized

Emily Winslade, one of last year’s first-year students, advises this year’s history freshers not to let Coronavirus put them off enjoying their studies and broadening their horizons. Firstly, welcome to the University of Portsmouth! University is perhaps one of the most incredible adventures you will undertake as an adult. To begin with, it can seem a bit daunting which is quite understandable bearing in mind this is a brand new environment. In spite of this, once you are able to get settled, it is a fantastic opportunity to grow as a person and broaden your horizons. You are perhaps tired of hearing about Coronavirus at this point, so I will […]

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Third-year history – don’t be daunted and have confidence you will be OK

By on October 5, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Uncategorized

Ben Humphreys, who graduated in history with the UoP this year, expected to find his third year of history studies hard but actually found he had acquired the skills and resilience in his previous two years of study to get through the third year smoothly.   There are a lot of assumptions that the third year of university is the hardest both in terms of quantity and quality of work.  There’s also a huge assumption that the first year is a walk in the park – just fun and games and a busy social life. To be honest, I found first year really hard; I struggled to understand what was expected […]

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From fresher to history graduate to financial consultant

By on May 14, 2020 in Alumni, Learning in Focus

Below, former student Connor Jones reflects on his time at Portsmouth.  Like many history students, Connor did not come to university with a strong idea of his intended career, but this did not matter so much, because our Portsmouth history degree provides many of the skills employers are looking for.  We note that Connor’s role now involves speaking to audiences of up to a hundred people, demonstrating that all those history presentations provide useful transferable skills!  It has been a delight to teach Connor, and to meet up with him again at open days.  I spent some of the formative years of my life at the University of Portsmouth where […]

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Summer vacation 2020: a virtual tour round Marseille

By on May 13, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Uncategorized

In this post, PhD student and Gale ambassador Megan Ison shows that even under lockdown conditions, our horizons need not be limited, as she takes us on a virtual vacation in France, using Gale primary sources, to get us in the mood for that holiday we plan to take, next year … Summer 2020 – a vacation period with a difference After a busy exam season each May, students up and down the country look forward to long summer vacations. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we can’t catch a flight this summer holiday.  Excitingly, Gale Primary Sources, an online database of digitalised primary sources, allows you to still explore your cancelled holiday […]

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Putting a positive spin on war-time evacuation

By on April 30, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Public History, Uncategorized

In this blog post, second-year history student Alex Symonds looks at a diary from World War II, now in the Imperial War museum.  The diary, apparently a joint effort by three girl guides, was probably intended for public consumption, and thus downplays the negative impact of war-time life for evacuees. The evacuation of British children in World War II is often depicted as a negative experience for everyone involved.  Children who had never even left their home towns suddenly had to adapt to life in the countryside and living with strangers, while their host families were confronted with dirty, disease-riddled children who were nothing like they had ever seen before.[1] […]

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