I have a lot of sympathy for my students – we Millennials were criticised for exactly the same reasons that they receive public condemnation.
Should we teach ‘difficult’ history in schools?
One twenty-two-year-old (Instagram ‘influencer’ Freddie Bentley, pictured above) recently caused consternation by suggesting topics such as climate change and Brexit should be taught in schools rather than the history of the Second World War. It followed comments by contestants on the reality show The Apprentice that revealed that they weren’t sure of the dates of... Continue Reading →
Taking teaching outside the classroom: crime and punishment in situ
On Monday this week I removed my second-year class on crime and punishment from the confines of a Waterside campus classroom (lovely as they are) and transported it to a real life courthouse in the centre of Northampton. Northampton’s Sessions House was built after the fire that destroyed much of the town in 1675.... Continue Reading →
Exhibition Launch: James Parkes and the Age of Intolerance
Starting on Wednesday 13 March 2019, the University of Northampton will be hosting an exhibition about the life of Reverend Dr James Parkes (1896 – 1981). Parkes was one of the most remarkable figures within twentieth-century Christianity. Yet since his death in 1981, he has largely been forgotten by the church, by Jews, and by... Continue Reading →
Remembering a war after ‘The War’
Jim Beach of the University of Northampton reflects on a visit to the Czech Republic. Speaking neither Czech nor Polish, it was with some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to speak at a workshop on the Seven Days’ War between the Czechs and Poles in 1919. The initial invite came from Tomáš... Continue Reading →
Putting Undergraduates on Trial (this time with feelings)
For several years now I've been putting undergraduates on trial. Before you get excited I only mean as an exercise in understanding the criminal trial in the past, I don't lock them up or send them to Botany Bay! Each year I set an assessment which involves groups of 2nd year History and Criminology students... Continue Reading →
Inside Wandsworth Gaol: A historian’s perspective on prison visiting
As a academic historian who works on the history of crime (and most of that in London) when I was offered the chance to take a peek inside a working English prison I could hardly refuse. I run modules on crime and punishment at the University of Northampton and help students explore the changing nature... Continue Reading →
Farewell Park and Avenue (and hello Waterside!)
On Wednesday this week I will be moving into my open office space in the Learning Hub at the University of Northampton's new Waterside Campus. I'm pretty excited about the change because I've been down to Waterside and it looks fantastic. In fact it has exceeded my hopes so far and I hope and believe... Continue Reading →
Hapsburgs & Haribo: University of Northampton History Society returns to Vienna.
Following on from the success of last year’s trip, fifteen third-year students travelled to Vienna in the first week of June. Organised by the History Society, the group were again guided by Jim Beach, one of the History lecturers, who took them around many locations connected to modules they had studied during their degree. UoN... Continue Reading →
‘f****** untouchable’?: the downfall of the Kray Twins in May 1968
On the 8 May 1968 a series of dawn raids were carried out by ‘more than 100’ Metropolitan Police detectives, led by DS Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read. The target of these raids was organized criminal gang that surrounded two East End gangsters that have passed into London folklore and garnered more column inches, True Crime books... Continue Reading →
