History@Portsmouth

University of Portsmouth's History Blog

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‘Definitely my favourite year’: How to succeed in your final year as a History student

By on September 16, 2018 in Learning in Focus

Returning for your third year as a History undergraduate? This blog was written by former History student Emily Fryer, and in it she reflects back on her final year of study and offers tips on how to work through it. Emily graduated in July 2018 with a first class degree. Third year was definitely my favourite year, it is extremely rewarding. It feels like all the work you have put in during first and second years is coming together, and you are starting to see the results. I personally found the work load way more manageable than second year, mostly thanks to there being no more assessed seminars. There’s also […]

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‘Step outside of your comfort zone’: How to get the best out of your second year at university

By on September 15, 2018 in Learning in Focus

Are you just about to start your second year studying History? This blog, written by Eleanor Doyle, President of the University of Portsmouth Students’ Union History Society, offers great advice on how to get the most out of your second year of studies. Eleanor is just about to start her final year. My best piece of advice for second year is to be brave and have the confidence to step outside of your comfort zone. My second year at Portsmouth University flew by and although it might feel as though your summer was gone in a blink, second year goes by even faster. One of the most exciting parts of second year is that you have […]

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‘You will get out of the course what you put in’: Being a first year History student

By on September 15, 2018 in Learning in Focus

Are you just about to start your first year as a History student and wonder what it will be like? Then read this blog written by one of last year’s ‘freshers’, Amelia Boddice. In the blog Amelia reflects on her experience when starting this whole new chapter in her life, from how to prepare for class to enjoying life both inside and outside the lecture room. Amelia is just about to start her second year of studies. What to expect? In terms of the gap between A-level and doing an undergraduate degree you can expect a big difference in the workload. There is an increase in the amount of preparation you must […]

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History & practice – images of wellbeing

By on September 14, 2018 in Events, News, Research in Focus

In this post, Mike Esbester discusses how his research into the history of communicating health and safety messages is linked to a current initiative to promote wellbeing and better awareness of mental health at work and beyond. ‘History is more or less bunk’. So Henry Ford claimed – rather unfairly, I would suggest. There’s a great deal to be gained from studying and understanding the past, something historians and others have been pointing out for a very long time. I’m not going to rehash that here, other than to note that in addition to the analytical and critical skills gained from engaging meaningfully with the past, the insight it brings […]

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(Un)safe heritage?

By on August 31, 2018 in Learning in Focus, Public History

In this post, the third in our series of blogs looking at sites of historical interest in Portsmouth, Mike Esbester, Senior Lecturer in History at Portsmouth, explores what might be learnt from an apparently unexceptional piece of the city’s built environment. Mike’s research and teaching focus on the everyday, including ideas about mobility and accidents in modern Britain. Not far from my office, there’s yet another mundane object that for most of the time, most people don’t notice – for 140 years it was part of the background to life around Burnaby Road. For a week or so earlier this year, however, it became very noticeable – particularly its absence, […]

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Going to the cinema? The changing uses of Portsmouth’s cinema buildings

By on August 24, 2018 in Learning in Focus, Public History

In this blog, the second in a series of posts looking at sites of historical interest in Portsmouth, Dr Rob James, Senior Lecturer in History, discusses the changing uses of the city’s cinema buildings. Rob specialises in researching society’s leisure activities and teaches a number of units on film and the cinema, including, as part of the Problems and Perspectives unit, ‘History at the Movies’ in the first year, ‘The Way to the Stars: Film and cinema-going in Britain, c. 1900-c. 2000’ option in the second year, and a Special Subject on ‘Cinema-going in Wartime Britain, 1939-1945’ in the third year. Going to the cinema was an important leisure pastime […]

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