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Life after Graduation

By on February 12, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Public History

One of our recent graduates tells us how the skills he gained studying at Portsmouth, and the volunteer experience he gained while studying, helped him secure an exciting job in the heritage sector.  For security reasons, he has not been named. Having graduated in the summer of 2019 and with a firm understanding that it was now time to get back into the world of work, the task was on to find a job, one that both stimulated me and used the great many skills learned through the three years at Portsmouth. Upon entering university I knew that my one objective was to better myself in both educational values and […]

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Emily Burgess working with the RMM medals collection

Volunteering with naval artefacts from World War I

By on January 24, 2020 in Public History, Research in Focus

Emily Burgess, a third year history student at Portsmouth, describes some of the things she has learned and some of the amazing artefacts she has got to work with on a daily basis in over a year spent working as a volunteer first for the National Museum of the Royal Navy and then for the Royal Marines Museum.  She is now devising her own projects and events for the museum and has found the experience invaluable to her studies for her degree. During my first year at Portsmouth University I attended a history volunteer fair held in The Mary Rose Museum. It was there that I met my future supervisor […]

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Railway Safety poster small

New Data Set On Railway Accidents Released & Research Collaboration

By on December 23, 2019 in Events, Public History, Research in Focus

In this post, Mike Esbester, Senior Lecturer in History, introduces the new dataset he’s been working on for the ‘Railway Work, Life & Death’ project. He shows the working behind the data and what’s in it – including why a book of legal cases reveals so much about one of the most dangerous industries of its time. You can find the all the project data here. Back in February 2019 the ‘Railway Work, Life & Death’ project took part in Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine’s ‘Transcription Tuesday’ event. This made a primary source available digitally – scans of a volume detailing a railway trade union’s legal cases between […]

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An archive at threat: Thomas Cook, 2019

By on September 24, 2019 in News, Public History

UPDATE: Since writing this post, things have moved on – thankfully for the better. There was a tremendous response to the Business Archives Council’s (BAC) call for letters of support. The BAC worked with the liquidators, who have agreed that the archive should be preserved, intact, for the nation. Arrangements are now being made for its transfer to a professional archive. So – well done to all involved: advocacy really worked on this occasion! The official update is here: https://managingbusinessarchives.co.uk/news/2019/12/update-on-the-thomas-cook-archive/ How essential is the archive to the historian? In this post, Mike Esbester looks at the very real threat to one UK archive that is nearly 180 years’ old – […]

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University and Museum Collaborations: History within and beyond the classroom

By on August 10, 2019 in Events, Learning in Focus, News, Public History, Research in Focus

In this blog, Dr Katy Gibbons and Dr Maria Cannon discuss the different ways in which the History team (both staff and students) at the University of Portsmouth have worked with the Mary Rose Museum, and highlight some ongoing and future projects. The History team at Portsmouth is very fortunate in having a number of award-winning museums on our doorstep, and staff and students benefit from this. Only 10 minutes walk from the History team at Milldam building is the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and one of the museums housed here is the world-leading Mary Rose Museum. Now housed in a bespoke setting, the museum is able to offer an immersive […]

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Heritage and Memory: HMS Belfast

By on July 29, 2019 in Learning in Focus, Public History

Ben Humphreys, a second year History student at the University of Portsmouth, has written the following blog entry on the museum ship HMS Belfast for the Introduction to Historical Research module. Ben considers why the ship was chosen for preservation and reveals that political factors likely played a key role in the decision-making process. The module is co-ordinated by Dr Maria Cannon, Lecturer in Early Modern History at Portsmouth. Heritage and memory have always had a political relationship. War museums and memorials almost exclusively portray a heroic tale of the machines and men (and increasingly women) who ‘served the nation,’ for which we should be grateful. As Gerder Lerner fears, […]

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