Laura King
Thesis Title: Fatherhood and Masculinity in Britain, 1918 to the 1950s.
Start Year: 2008
Email: laura.king@sheffield.ac.uk
| Supervisor |
Primary:
| Secondary: Dr. Clare Griffiths
| Research Topic |
My main research interest is the history of the family and gender in twentieth-century Britain. The aim of my thesis is to explore fatherhood, from the First World War to the 1950s. Whilst there is a growing historiography regarding fatherhood in the nineteenth century and earlier, as well as research into fatherhood in this period in other countries such as America, there has been extremely little research into fatherhood in this period in Britain. The thesis will begin to rectify this shortfall.
Within the thesis, I examine the role of the father, the father-child relationship, the authority and position of the father, and also how fatherhood related more broadly to masculinity. I examine how these aspects of fatherhood changed across the period, and also to what degree fatherhood remained constant. The research draws on a wide range of sources, from children's literature, newspapers and film, to letters and oral history interviews. My approach combines methods and sources from social and cultural history, with the aim of examining both the representation and the experiences of fathers in this period, and relationship between them.
| Academic Background |
My first degree was a BA in Modern History and Politics, at the University of Sheffield. I remained at the History Department, taking a Masters course in Twentieth-Century History. For this, I wrote a dissertation on changing working-class ideals of family size in the 1930s and 1940s in Britain.
| Teaching |
I have been an Associate Tutor in the department since 2008/09, teaching on HST 112: Paths from Antiquity to Modernity and HST119: The Transformation of Britain, 1800 to the present. I also acted as Deputy Course Convenor for HST119 in 2009/10.
| Other Work |
I am Editorial Assistant for the journal Contemporary European History.
I co-founded and currently organise the Modern European History Group, with Suzannah Rockett and Jack Rhoden. If you would like to hear more about our events, or give a paper yourself, we would love to hear from you - please email mehg@sheffield.ac.uk. To see our upcoming events, please click here.
I successfully organised a conference entitled 'Historical Perspectives on the Family', which was held at the Humanities Research Institute on 23rd April 2010. This involved a range of speakers and delegates from Australia, America and Ireland, as well as from within Britain.