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Research in Focus

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What use is the past?

By on August 16, 2017 in Public History, Research in Focus

In this blog Dr Mike Esbester, senior lecturer in history, tackles a question that has long been discussed by historians and reveals how, if used carefully, the past can sometimes provide illumination for the present. Mike’s research focuses on nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, particularly on the cultural history of safety, risk and accident prevention, and on the history of mobility. It’s not an original question, and historians have been wrestling with it for years. Is it possible to learn from the past, given circumstances and context change and no two situations are ever precisely the same? Do we risk hollowing historical study out by trying to ‘apply’ it to the present? Must […]

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Sir Hudibras

Laughter as a political weapon after the English Civil Wars.

By on August 11, 2017 in New Publications, Research in Focus

Dr Fiona McCall is a lecturer in early modern history at Portsmouth, teaching units on the British Civil Wars, and Crime, Sin and Punishment in early modern Britain, amongst others. Her current research project investigates religion in the English parish during the period of Godly rule of the 1640s and 1650s. What do you do if you are utterly defeated in a Civil War, and governed by a religious zealouts who have executed your ruler and are determined to stamp out most of the religious practises you hold dear? Fighting back has proved no use. You can retreat from public life and count what money the sequestrators have left you.  […]

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Visitors to Portsmouth City Museum's WW1 exhibition 2014

‘Making waves’: the activities of the Port Towns and Urban Cultures group.

By on July 31, 2017 in Public History, Research in Focus

This blog, by Dr Mel Bassett, research associate for the Port Towns and Urban Cultures project, discusses the many activities of the PTUC group, from working on major First World War exhibitions, to sharing their research with schoolchildren. Mel’s research interests centre on dockyard workers’ identities and the role of empire in the Edwardian period. Situated on the south coast, and on the doorstep of some of the nation’s most important naval and maritime heritage, the History Department at the University of Portsmouth are undertaking exciting new research into the influence of maritime history on land. Port Towns and Urban Cultures (PTUC) group was established in 2010 by Professor Brad Beaven, Dr Karl Bell […]

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seance

Lost Voices: Spiritualism on the Home Front, 1914-1919.

By on July 25, 2017 in Public History, Research in Focus

Dr Karl Bell, reader in cultural and social history at Portsmouth, has written the following blog based on his AHRC-funded ‘Everyday Lives of the First World War’ research project that examined the role of Spiritualism in Britain during the First World War. Karl’s research interests cover various aspects of ‘the fantastical imagination’, including magical beliefs and practices, witchcraft, the supernatural, superstition, prophecy, millenarianism, legends, myths, urban folklore and (proto-) science-fiction tropes from 1700 onwards. To read Karl’s blog, please click the following link: https://everydaylivesinwar.herts.ac.uk/?p=3385  

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ww1 trench

‘Man Up!’: Revisiting the trenches and reviewing First World War masculinity.

By on July 21, 2017 in Research in Focus

“David McCracken’s dissertation was a well-written and outstandingly researched piece of work. It conducted a rigorous interrogation of current First World War historiography and deployed a broad range of evidence, from infantrymen’s diaries and letters to memoirs and oral testimony, to evaluate how soldiers coped with life in the trenches. David put forward a multi-layered gender analysis that revealed how complex British society’s perceptions of masculine behaviour were during the conflict. It was an excellent dissertation that shed light on a crucial aspect of modern history.” – Dr Rob James, L6 Year Tutor. I set out to explore the impact that the First World War had upon the construction of […]

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Vinnie Jones and Paul Gasgoigne

‘Do it the safety way!’ 100 years of accident prevention.

By on July 13, 2017 in Research in Focus

In this blog Dr Mike Esbester, senior lecturer in history, discusses how he has been working with the British Safety Council in order to create an online archive of their material. Mike draws upon his research interests in his 3rd year Special Subject strand. Mike’s wide-ranging take on the history of accident prevention touches upon accidents at work, in the streets and at home, and examines how the state has interacted with its citizens – and how the messages found in safety education were not neutral, but contained some very distinct ideas about who could prevent accidents. This is just one aspect of Mike’s research, which has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and supported by […]

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