History@Portsmouth

University of Portsmouth's History Blog

Tag Archives | slider

Mike word cloud

Historians across boundaries: changing how we research the past

By on November 20, 2020 in Research in Focus

In this blog post, Senior Lecturer in History Mike Esbester introduces an important new seminar series he’s involved in leading: ‘Historians across boundaries.’ It’s based at the Institute of Historical Research, the London-based body that has promoted and championed historical research for nearly 100 years. This important new seminar series will help bring people together in their research into the past. ‘Changing the way we do research’ is certainly a bold claim – but it’s one we hope we can live up to! Earlier this year the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) called for applications to run seminar series in the new ‘Partnership Seminar’ programme. I knew just the crowd […]

Continue Reading 1
IMG_7370 for slider

Coping with your second year of history studies – time management is the key

By on October 5, 2020 in Learning in Focus

Charlotte Lewis chose the History with Politics pathway in her second year of studies at Portsmouth.  She found the second year to be a ‘step-up’ from the first year, and gives three suggestions for ways to meet the challenge. This time last year I began my second-year studies in History with Politics at the University of Portsmouth. I remember very clearly the intense anticipation of increased workloads and importance of essay submissions as they now counted towards your final grade. So I write this blog with the intention of allaying the fears and worries some new second year students may have by recounting my experience and offering a few tips […]

Continue Reading 0
Reiss Simms

Top tips for beginning your study of history at Portsmouth

By on October 5, 2020 in Learning in Focus

Reiss Sims, one of last year’s first-year students, offers some great tips for those beginning their study of history at the University of Portsmouth in 2020. “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the U.S. Now let me start off by apologising for the classic “insert quote by famous person” approach to the start of this blog, but I do believe that Roosevelt hit the nail on the head – the study of history provides us with the understanding of the world we live in and outlines the possibilities for change, so congratulations for joining the […]

Continue Reading 1
Ben Humphreys photo cropped

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 […]

Continue Reading 0
2nd_Manchesters cropped

The banality and brutality of war: Wilfred Owen’s letter to his mother, Susan Owen, February 1917

By on August 13, 2020 in Learning in Focus

In the second in our series on First World War sources, second-year UoP student Charlotte Lewis discusses what can be learned from a letter by famed WWI poet Wilfred Owen to his mother Susan. Whilst Wilfred Owen’s poetry is well known for describing the horrors of the First World War, his letters to his mother, Susan Owen, give the reader an insight into Owen’s personal experiences and reactions hiding behind his poetry. In light of this, this blog will focus on a letter written by Owen in February 1917 to his mother.[1] Through the analysis of this letter, this blog will try to convey not only its significant use in […]

Continue Reading 0
The_Battle_of_the_Somme,_July-november_1916_Q1374 cropped

Normalising the brutality of the Somme: a soldier writes to his aunt, 13 October 1916

By on August 12, 2020 in Learning in Focus

In the first of a series on First World War sources, in this blog second year UoP student Oliver Rooney discusses the experiences of Charles Wyndham Wynne, expressed through his letter to his aunt Sophia Sarah Wynne on the 13th October 1916, several months before his death in June 1917, as well as the historiography surrounding the importance and limitations of First World War letters. [1] The atrocities of the First World War have been conveyed through personal letters between soldiers and their families. These personal sources provide historians with a first-hand understanding of the soldier’s experiences during wartime, and the emotions they conveyed and attempted to conceal from their […]

Continue Reading 0