History

Research in the Department

The Department has a distinguished record of internationally outstanding and innovative historical research. In the 1996 and 2001 Research Assessment Exercises (RAE) we were awarded a grade of 5. In the 2008 exercise we were in tenth position nationally ranked by the proportion of our research judged 'world-leading': 35% of our research was judged to be in this category (4*), and 30% to be internationally excellent (3*).

Our research interests extend chronologically from late ancient history to contemporary history; geographically from the UK to Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, South Asia, and the USA; and thematically to include political, economic, social, cultural and intellectual history, with a distinct specialism in the application of digital technologies to historical research. The Department´s unique composition provides the interdisciplinary scope to develop new ways of dealing with complex source materials and promote research perspectives across chronological and geographical divides.

The Department has a strong record of participation in funded research projects. Current projects include:

• Connected Histories: Sources for Building British History, 1500-1900
  
• Hegemony and Power: South Africa and the Southern African Sub-Continent, 1965-2005
  
• Plebeian Lives and the Making of Modern London, 1690-1800
• The Centre for Research into Freemasonry
• The Taxatio Project

For completed projects, including the Old Bailey Proceedings Online, the British Academy John Foxe Project , the Cistercians in Yorkshire, and the Hartlib Papers, see our research projects page.

Postgraduate Research, training the next generation of historians, is a vital part of our research strategy. We have one of the most active centres of postgraduate research in the country, with around 60 research students and a vibrant postgraduate research culture.

We promote the exchange of ideas and dissemination of research in our weekly Research Seminars and in occasional Conferences. For forthcoming events, see our home page.

Disseminating the results of our research to non-academic audiences is important to us. We engage in a range of Impact and Knowledge Exchange activities, sharing our research with schools, history societies, local museums, the media, and local, national, and international communities.