Latest Posts

  • Research Seminars Summer Term 2014

    Department of History Wednesday 18 June 14.30-18.00, HumSS 175 The Invention of Ceremony Lindy Grant, Reading: Blanche of Castile and the invention of ceremony Jeremy Burchardt, Reading: ‘Roast beef and plum pudding’: the ceremony and symbolism of c.19th allotment society rent suppers Nicholas… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Dr Jacqui Turner

    I was born in Lancashire at a time that unfortunately now appears as a topic or occasionally a Special Subject on our syllabus. I was brought up in a large, political and very Northern working class family and attended one… Continue reading

  • The Canonisations of John XXIII and John Paul II

    by Dr Rebecca Rist On Sunday, the 27th of April 2014 John XXIII (1958-1963) and John Paul II (1978-2005) were both canonised, or declared saints, by the Catholic Church – the first ever ‘double canonisation’. They will be following a long… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Alastair Noble

    I was born in Lanark but moved south at a young age, and grew up in Canterbury. I returned North of the border to study in Glasgow, where I graduated. Then to London where I followed a career in the… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Daniel Hale

    I was born and raised in East Yorkshire. As an undergraduate, I studied law (LLB) at the University of Warwick, graduating in 1983. My postgraduate studies continued on a part-time basis with a Master of Laws degree from the University of Bristol… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Dan Renshaw

    I’m a Reading boy (almost) born and bred. Moved from London when I was a kid, did my BA at the University of Reading, now doing my PhD here. I’m particularly interested in immigration history, in particular the Irish and… Continue reading

  • Science and the Humanities for Early Career Scholars

    Last Friday Reading played host to a British Academy funded workshop entitled Science and the Humanities for Early Career Scholars. Here the workshop organiser, Prof. David Stack explains the purpose of the workshop and the importance of support in the… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Sam Gibbs

    I was born in Poole but grew up in Swindon. I did both my BA and MA at the University of Reading, and stayed to do a PhD. My current PhD research is focussing on the English archers of the… Continue reading

  • Spotlight on: Ruth Salter

    I am a native of Reading, although I have very strong family ties with Devon.  As well as being one of the sessional lecturers I am also one of the Department’s PhD researchers – my work focusing on twelfth-century English… Continue reading

  • Departmental Research Seminar Spring Term 2014

    March 12th, 2.30 -6pm Ceremonies of rulership Dr Janet Dickinson (University of Reading), ‘Approaching the Queen: adapting to the challenges of ceremony at the Elizabethan court’. Dr Alice Hunt (University of Southampton), ‘Ceremony and the English Republic’ Dr Anna Keay… Continue reading