For their Thinking Like An Historian module we take our first-year students to look at some of the memorials in Portsmouth, and then they write a piece for their portfolio assessment on a memorial of our choice. Here are some of the memorials chosen by students for further analysis: Memorials in Portsmouth Cathedral Sofia de Freitas Franco chose the Historic Windows located in the north wall of the Quire and the south wall of the Navy Aisle of Portsmouth Cathedral. She finds stained glass windows a rather beautiful way to commemorate lost lives. Each of these different windows represent a different historical figure who were very significant in their […]
Tag Archives | commemoration

Follow in the footsteps of history: Liberation Route Europe’s Hiking Trails network
Earlier in the year our Rob James participated in an outreach event hosted by Liberation Route Europe in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. LRE Foundation is an international network that brings together people and organisations who are dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the Second World War. At the event, Rob took part in a panel discussion outlining the benefits of the organisation and its new Hiking Trails project. The southern section of the UK Hiking Trail runs from London to the South coast, and one of Rob’s PhD researchers, (now Dr) Jayne Friend, was employed by the Foundation to provide material for the trail. Jayne identified many points of interest […]

Researching the letters of Allied service personnel in WW2: A student podcast
Recently, the internationally-renowned museum, The D-Day Story, published on their website a podcast recorded in 2022 by three second year History students, Amy Deighton, Jessie Rickman and Sam Marchetti. The students, who are now in the final year of their studies, worked with the museum’s archives as part of their assessment for the ‘Working with the Past’ module, coordinated by Mike Esbester. The second-year module encourages students to work with our local community partners where possible and produce work that has a benefit to them and the organisation they are working with. To hear the podcast, go to the D-Day Story website here.

Researching memories of D-Day: A student podcast
Recently, the internationally-renowned museum, The D-Day Story, published on their website a podcast recorded in 2021 by three second year History students, Joshua Bown, Angus Grieve and Shannen Smylie. The students worked with the museum’s archives as part of their assessment for the ‘Working with the Past’ module, coordinated by Mike Esbester. The second-year module encourages students to work with our local community partners where possible and produce work that has a benefit to them and the organisation they are working with. To hear the podcast, go to the D-Day Story website here.

The Impact of Civil War on English Parishes
In November 2020 the University of Warwick Network for Parish Research organised an online symposium on ‘Remembering the Parish’. Fiona McCall, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth, presented a paper, ‘Remembering the ‘Wickedly Wicked’ Times’, looking at loyalist memories criticising the interregnum religious regime. She was one of four speakers on the memories of the civil war in English parishes; there is a feature on these papers here on the My-Parish website.

Young people need to learn more about the history of racism in the US and Britain
In the light of the worldwide anti-racists protests taking place across the world, two current UoP students, Lois Marriott and Becca Francis, argue passionately for the need to educate young people about the history of black people’s experience of racism. We both chose to take units during our history degree that would help us understand issues on race and white privilege. This included “ Racism and Anti-Racism in Postwar Britain” taught by Dr. Jodi Burkett and “African American History and Culture” taught by Dr. Lee Sartain. We also learned about the history of slavery on the core units of our degree, as well as the impact of Imperialism. A combination […]