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 →
“If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap for Stalin!”
Preparing teaching materials for a new term can lead to some surprising discoveries. My highlight this year, while getting things together for my history of Communism module, was coming across the Revolting Russians episode of Horrible Histories on Box of Broadcasts, the video streaming service for schools and universities. The show takes a typically light-hearted,... Continue Reading →
‘Future focused’ not stuck in the past: Study History because we don’t know what’s going to happen next
As we approach the end of another year I thought I’d reflect on what, if anything we might learn from the events of 2017. This has been (another) tumultuous annum with terrorism, the threat of nuclear war, and political turmoil at home and abroad. What I’d like to discuss though, is the value of History... Continue Reading →