History@Portsmouth

University of Portsmouth's History Blog

Tag Archives | history

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 […]

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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 […]

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Photos of Wehrmacht soldiers

Germans coming to terms with the crimes of the past: the role of the Wehrmacht in World War II

By on June 19, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Research in Focus

In his dissertation third-year history student Tim Marsella studied the changing understandings and representations of the role of the Wehrmacht (German armed forces in World War II) within modern Germany.  He shows how a landmark exhibition in the 1990s challenged perceptions about the breadth of involvement in war crimes, but also how coming to terms with painful memories allowed German society to move on. Most students are aware when they start their degrees that they will be required to complete a dissertation in the final year of their course, and this prospect can seem quite daunting.What I would like to share is both my inspiration for this work and what […]

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Census form 1911 cropped

The 1911 census: the government and the suffragettes have a conversation

By on May 19, 2020 in Learning in Focus

A 1911 census form provides evidence of the ways in which the suffragettes challenged state authority.  This piece was written by second-year UoP history student Ashleigh Hufton for the second-year module, Danger! Censorship, Power and the People. Forms articulate conversations between two parties, argues Dobraszczyk, in an article on the Victorian census. [1]  A 1911 census return form is a useful document to view when analysing the relationship between the liberal government and individual social actors. [2]  This was the first census to be completed by the homeowner, allowing individuals to choose what information the government attained.[3] The suffragettes utilised this power to challenge state authority through their “census boycott”. […]

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Marseille 1A

Summer vacation 2020: a virtual tour round Marseille

By on May 13, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Uncategorized

In this post, PhD student and Gale ambassador Megan Ison shows that even under lockdown conditions, our horizons need not be limited, as she takes us on a virtual vacation in France, using Gale primary sources, to get us in the mood for that holiday we plan to take, next year … Summer 2020 – a vacation period with a difference After a busy exam season each May, students up and down the country look forward to long summer vacations. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we can’t catch a flight this summer holiday.  Excitingly, Gale Primary Sources, an online database of digitalised primary sources, allows you to still explore your cancelled holiday […]

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IMG_4500 Amelia presentation cropped

From Margins to Centre? An undergraduate conference on marginalised histories

By on May 5, 2020 in Learning in Focus, Research in Focus

At Portsmouth we were delighted to have not one, but two students presenting their work at the recent ‘From Margins to Centre’ conference at the University of York – a testament to the innovative and exciting research our students are devising and doing. In this blog post our second contributor, third year student Amelia Boddice, discusses the conference and where her paper fitted into the themes of the day. As well as building her employability skills, the conference prompted some thought-provoking reflections on the nature of historical enquiry: Amelia clearly got lots out of the day – just as it should be! The whole history team here at Portsmouth pitched […]

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