Category Archives: Comment

British People Month – Chartism Essentials, by Prof David Stack

Next week, in the run-up to Chartism Day 2023, the History Department at Reading will be celebrating all things Chartist. Here, to get Chartist Week underway, and to fill in any gaps in your knowledge, the Department’s very own Professor … Continue reading

Posted in British History, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

British People Month – The Changing Place of the Countryside in Modern British Life, by Dr Jeremy Burchardt

The way historians think and write about the countryside has changed dramatically over the last few decades. Until the 1980s, most British historians regarded the economic history of farming as by far the most important aspect of the history of … Continue reading

Posted in British History, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘What manner of creature is it in the semblance of man?’: Count Dracula and ChatGPT, by Dr Dan Renshaw

At the end of the nineteenth century human society seemed to be on the brink of profound behavioural change spurred on by advances in technology. Over the previous fifty years innovations had occurred in communications, in transport, and, less benignly, … Continue reading

Posted in Cultural History, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Into the Archives: Listening to the Voice in the Archive, by Dr Beth Wilson

In April 2023, I travelled to Indiana University Bloomington to spend two weeks in the archives. I was funded by the Institute for Advanced Studies at Indiana University to undertake a Repository Research Fellowship at the Archives of Traditional Music … Continue reading

Posted in American History, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Into the Archives: South Carolina, by Prof Emily West

In April 2023 I visited South Carolina to undertake archival research. This trip would not have been possible without a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant, and I am grateful to them for funding this trip. I first visited South Carolina during … Continue reading

Posted in American History, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment