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Learning in Focus

The execution of the eight surviving conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot. Wellcome Images via Wikimedia , CC BY-SA

Forget gory Gunpowder – Jacobean England had a bloodcurdling appetite for violence

By on November 3, 2017 in Learning in Focus, Research in Focus

Dr Katy Gibbons, Senior Lecturer in History, has published an article in The Conversation. Here she reflects on responses to the violent scenes in the recent BBC 1 series Gunpowder, in particular the depictions of executions of Catholics by the Protestant authorities. This discussion reflects her research interests in early modern Catholicism in England and Europe, which is one theme in her final year special subject unit, ‘Conflict, Conspiracy, Consensus: Religious Identities in Elizabethan England’. To read the article, click here

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‘Fodder for the masses’: Student recipes in the 1960s

By on October 19, 2017 in Learning in Focus, Research in Focus

Dr Jodi Burkett is Principal Lecturer in History at the university, and teaches across the undergraduate course including a special subject on ‘Students and Youth in postwar Britain’. She is currently doing research on student activism around issues of ‘race’, racism and anti-racism between the late 1960s and early 1990s which includes reading a lot of student newspapers. While waiting in an epic queue in the Hub, or eating your Co-op meal deal, I’m sure many of you have asked yourselves: What did students eat in the late 1960s? For many undergraduate students, going to University is the first time that they are living on their own and having to cook […]

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The Excommunication of Portsmouth, 1450-1508

By on October 5, 2017 in Learning in Focus, Research in Focus

Dr Fiona McCall teaches on a first year module, Early Modern World, where we discuss the practice of the medieval Catholic church before the reformation, and a second year module, Crime, Sin and Punishment in Britain, 1500-1850, which looks at the extensive jurisdiction of the church courts in the early modern period, as well as the role of religious ideas in punishment. Below she relates how the town of Portsmouth was excommunicated in 1450, and what it had to do, fifty-eight years later, to end this predicament. This year, Patrick Johnson, one of the students who studied the above module last year, will be researching a dissertation on the social meaning […]

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Image courtesy of Oliver Stedman

The Final Year: A year of many ‘lasts’

By on September 20, 2017 in Learning in Focus

Are you just about to embark on your final year studying as a History student? In this blog one of last year’s History graduates, Callum Devine, reflects on his experiences as a third year student. He offers advice on how to work through the year, as well as how to go about planning for your future careers. Callum graduated in July with a 2.1. The third and final year of your history degree… The year that seemed so far away when you started, and yet has crept up so quickly. For most of you it will be the year of many lasts: the last essay, last seminar, or last purple […]

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Third Year & You: How to survive with your sanity intact

By on September 20, 2017 in Learning in Focus

Returning for your third year as a History undergraduate? This blog was written by former History student Taché Smith, and in it she reflects back on her final year of study and offers tips on how to work through it. Taché graduated in July 2017 with a 2.1 and is now looking for museum work in her home country of Bermuda. There’s a lot of things said about the third year, most of it revolving around how easy or how hard it is; however, it just isn’t that simple. The third year of university is one of the most satisfying and frustrating experiences you will ever have. It will challenge […]

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Image courtesy of Rebecca Hams

Two years done, and each year getting better!

By on September 19, 2017 in Learning in Focus

Are you just about to start your second year studying History? This blog is written by Jess Jenkins, and in it she thinks back on her second year of studies and offers advice on how to make the most of your experience. Jess is just about to start her final year. Two years done, and each year getting better! I am now going into my third year as a History student at Portsmouth University and my second year has only left me feeling ridiculously eager to proceed into my final year. The second year as a history student is a year that you can tailor to your interests and pursuits […]

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