I think that everyone, from whatever political perspective, will agree that the events of Saturday night in Clapham were regrettable. The image broadcast to the world was of a large gathering of women protesting male violence and mourning the death of a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. For this vigil... Continue Reading →
In the light of another assault on democracy we need the Humanities more than ever
When I finally switched off from a day of online meetings on Wednesday I thought I’d relax by watching some gentle TV. Then a prompt from a friend on social media made me switch over to a new channel, the BBC at first and then CNN. Within moments I was hooked in to the drama... Continue Reading →
Remembrance Day 2020: making some very local connections
Soldiers of the King's Royal Rifles* The First World War was ended (on the Western Front at least) by the armistice that came into effect at 11 o’clock on the 11thNovember 1918. This is why we hold the service of remembrance at 11am on the closest Sunday to the 11 November. Of course today we... Continue Reading →
We love our freedom and that includes our freedom to not do as our ‘masters’ tell us
So, last Thursday the department for education (DfE) ordered schools in England 'not to use resources from organisations which have expressed a desire to end capitalism'. This has prompted quite a strong reaction from many on the left (and not on the left) on the (quite reasonable) grounds that it appears to prevent teaching the... Continue Reading →
We all love a good conspiracy theory, even it if it might kill us
At the weekend ‘thousands of people took to the streets of central London and held a rally in Trafalgar Square. The numbers involved are disputed: ‘about a 1,000’ said most news reports, but I’ve seen posts on social media saying that there were 35,000 protesting in Nelson’s shadow. They were there to protest about the... Continue Reading →
There are bigger battles to fight so please just wear a mask folks
Even a cursory engagement with British history would be enough to remind us that we are a fairly rebellious people when we are told what we should or shouldn’t do. There is a proud tradition of standing up for our ‘rights’ even if, for the most part, those rights are nowhere defined in a written... Continue Reading →
‘It has been really reassuring for me seeing how the history department has handled the move to online learning’. A History student reflects on studying in a pandemic
Today we have another post from one of our History students at Northampton. Charlotte has just completed year two and reflects on studying History in a pandemic. We have all been impacted by Covid-19 for months now and I just wanted to give people a bit of an insight about my experience of how the... Continue Reading →
‘I never would have imagined that I would now be close to graduating and have met so many amazing people’. Reflections on being a ‘mature’ student at Northampton.
Today's blog is written by Charlotte who has just successfully completed her second year studying History at the University of Northampton. I have been reflecting about my university experience a lot recently as I am entering my final year as an undergraduate history student at the University of Northampton. I have seen a lot of... Continue Reading →
The Humanities are under attack, it is time to stand up for it.
As a recent Guardian editorial reminded us, Nicky Morgan, former Education Secretary (who studied at Oxford, and is now ennobled and in the House of Lords) once said this about the subject area I practice within: ‘[In the past] if you didn’t know what you wanted to do … the arts and humanities were what... Continue Reading →
Racism, feminism and the role of white privilege
This is last of the series of blogs from our students this week, inspired by the Black Lives Matters protests, and it comes from Holly, one of our History Masters post graduates. As a white female growing up in East London, the concept of multi-culturalism has always been something that has intrigued me and made me proud... Continue Reading →
HISTORY AT NORTHAMPTON 