Dr Heather Ellis
School of Education
Senior Lecturer in History of Education
Examinations and Assessment Lead
h.l.ellis@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 3627
+44 114 222 3627
The Wave
Full contact details
Dr Heather Ellis
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
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Heather is Co-I on the AHRC/ESRC-funded research project The School Meals Service: Past, Present, and Future? (Grant No ES/X000737/1, 2023-2025) and is Co-editor of the journal, History of Education.
Heather gained her PGCert in Academic Practice from Liverpool Hope University in 2013 and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has taught a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in British and European History and History of Education.
Before starting at Sheffield, she taught at Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Liverpool Hope University. In Berlin, Heather was a Lecturer and Researcher in British History. At Liverpool Hope, she was Senior Lecturer in History of Education and was responsible for designing, organising and delivering all courses in the History of Education at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
She has supervised many successful MA theses in British, European and educational history. At Sheffield, she teaches on both the MA and EdD programmes (Higher Education strand) and would be happy to supervise PhD and EdD students looking to work in the history of knowledge, intellectual history and the history of higher education.
- Research interests
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Heather’s research interests lie chiefly in the field of intellectual history and the history of knowledge. At present, her research focuses on cultures of knowledge-making in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain. She is currently working on two projects in this area:
- The Classical Origins of Modern Science: Heather’s Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowship project examines the importance of ancient Greek and Roman texts, ideas, art and architecture in the emergence of modern science as a coherent body of knowledge in Britain in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It will result in a monograph currently under contract with OUP.
- Mapping the Spatial and Conceptual Geographies of Britain’s Literary and Philosophical Societies, c. 1780-1914: This project aims to establish for the first time the number, geographical spread and intellectual networks of literary and philosophical societies in Britain, Ireland and North America between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. It explores their role as knowledge-making institutions and sites of higher education.
Recently completed projects include a monograph - Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831-1918 - which examined the masculine self-fashioning of male scientists in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Britain. The research for this project was undertaken as part of a postdoctoral project at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2017.
Before this, Heather worked on a number of projects in the history of universities and transnational scholarly networks. Her first monograph, based on her doctoral research, Generational Conflict and University Reform: Oxford in the Age of Revolution,was published by Brill in 2012 and won the 2014 Kevin Brehony prize for the best first book by the History of Education Society UK.
- Publications
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Books
- Masculinity and Science in Britain 1831-1918 . Palgrave Macmillan UK.
- Generational Conflict and University Reform. BRILL.
- History of Universities. Oxford University Press.
Edited books
- A Cultural History of Education in the Age of Empire. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Science, Technologies and Material Culture in the History of Education. London: Routledge.
- Anglo-German Scholarly Networks in the Long Nineteenth Century. BRILL.
- Juvenile Delinquency and the Limits of Western Influence, 1850–2000. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
- Masculinity and the Other: Historical Perspectives. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Journal articles
- Editorial. History of Education, 54(1), 1-2.
- The extraordinary rise and inexplicable decline of Lit & Phils. History today, 74(8), 76-85. View this article in WRRO
- Research on human engagement with music in the Journal of New Music Research. Journal of New Music Research, 52(1), 1-2.
- Introduction. History of Education, 52(2-3), 147-153. View this article in WRRO
- The Indian Civil Service, Classical studies, and an education in Empire, 1890-1914. Historical Journal, 66(3), 593-618.
- Editorial. History of Education, 52(1), 1-2.
- Student exchange and British government policy: UK students study abroad, 1955-1978. British Journal of Educational Studies, 71(1), 71-97.
- Concluding remarks. Nordic Journal of Educational History, 9(2), 149-155.
- Ancient and modern knowledges. Intellectual History Review, 32(3), 347-357.
- Classical authors and “scientific” research in the early years of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 1781–1800. Intellectual History Review, 32(3), 473-501.
- Editorial: Science, Technologies and Material Culture in the History of Education. History of Education, 46(2), 143-146.
- Motivation, Identity and Collaboration in the Scholarly Networks of the British Empire, 1830-1930. Jahrbuch für Universitätsgeschichte, 18, 125-142.
- Editorial: Educational Networks, Educational Identities: Connecting National and Global Perspectives. Journal of Global History, 11(3), 313-319.
- Marconi, masculinity and the heroic age of science: wireless telegraphy at the British Association meeting at Dover in 1899. History and Technology, 32(2), 120-136.
- Foppish Masculinity, Generational Identity and the University Authorities in Eighteenth-Century Oxbridge. Cultural and Social History, 11(3), 367-384.
- Knowledge, character and professionalisation in nineteenth-century British science. History of Education, 43(6), 777-792.
- Thomas Arnold, Christian Manliness and the Problem of Boyhood. Journal of Victorian Culture, 19(4), 425-441.
- Classics and Imperialism in the British Empire, ed. Mark Bradley. The English Historical Review, 129(536), 238-240.
- Geoff K Ward, The Black Child-Savers: Racial Democracy and Juvenile Justice. Punishment & Society, 15(5), 587-589.
- National, Nordic or European? Nineteenth-century university jubilees and Nordic cooperation. HISTORISK TIDSSKRIFT, 92(1), 133-135.
- Efficiency and counter-revolution: connecting university and civil service reform in the 1850s. History of Education, 42(1), 23-44.
- Knowledge, Education, and Citizenship in a Pre- and Post-National Age. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 4(1), 63-82.
- Introduction: the Humanities and Citizenship. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 4(1), 1-5.
- Editor's Introduction: Juvenile Delinquency, Modernity and the State. Social Justice: a journal of crime, conflict and world order, 37(4), 1-10.
- Reconciling Classical and Christian Culture? Marcus Aurelius and his Meditations in Victorian Scholarship. New Voices in Classical Reception Studies, 7, 1-12.
- 'A Manly and Generous Discipline'?: Classical Studies and Generational Conflict in Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Oxford. History of Universities, 25(2), 143-172.
- What would Marcus Aurelius have done? Stoic Masculinity in Victorian Schooling?. Leeds Working Papers in Victorian Studies, 11, 79-89.
- Wilhelmine Germany and Edwardian Britain: Essays on Cultural Affinity. The English Historical Review, CXXIV(511), 1528-1530.
- Roundtable: What Does "Boyhood Studies" Mean?. Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies, 3(2), 103-110.
- Boys, Boyhood and the Construction of Masculinity: Guest Editor's Introduction. Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies, 2(2), 119-124.
- 'This starting, feverish heart': Matthew Arnold and the Problem of Manliness. Critical Survey, 20(3).
- Huxley s ancestry. NATURE, 63, 127-127.
- Control, resistance and the senses: neurodivergent perspectives of the UK school meals service, a case study. Oral History Review. View this article in WRRO
- ‘Not in the college but city’: Networks of Higher Learning in Manchester before 1824. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library.
Chapters
- Education and learning, Routledge Historical Resources - 19th Century British Society Routledge
- Literacies, CULTURAL HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE AGE OF EMPIRE, VOL. 5 (pp. 139-154).
- Introduction: Education in the Age of Empire, 1800-1920 In Ellis H (Ed.), A Cultural History of Education in the Age of Empire (pp. 1-16). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Education in the Age of Empire 1800-1920 Introduction, CULTURAL HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE AGE OF EMPIRE, VOL. 5 (pp. 1-15).
- Beyond the University: Higher Education Institutions Across Time and Space, Springer International Handbooks of Education (pp. 741-757). Springer Singapore
- Beyond the University: Higher Education Institutions Across Time and Space, Springer International Handbooks of Education (pp. 1-17). Springer Singapore
- Knowledge, character and professionalisation in nineteenth-century British science, Politics, Professionals and Practitioners (pp. 57-71). Routledge
- Collaboration and knowledge exchange between scholars in Britain and the empire, 1830–1914 In Jöns H, Meusberger P & Heffernan M (Ed.), Mobilities of Knowledge (pp. 141-155). Cham: Springer.
- Men of Science: The British Association, Masculinity and the First World War In Chagnon M-E & Irish T (Ed.), The Academic World in the Era of the Great War (pp. 43-64). Palgrave Macmillan
- From the French Revolution to Tractarianism: Student Revolt and Generational Identity at the University of Oxford, 1800-1845 In Dhondt P & Boran E (Ed.), Student Revolt, City, and Society in Europe (pp. 136-151). Abingdon: Routledge.
- Introduction: The ‘Man of Science’ as a Gendered Ideal, Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831–1918 (pp. 1-17). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- ‘An Effete World’: Gendered Criticism and the British Association, Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831–1918 (pp. 85-116). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831-1918 Conclusion, MASCULINITY AND SCIENCE IN BRITAIN, 1831-1918 (pp. 205-210).
- Reuniting Theory and Practice: The Man of Science and the First World War, Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831–1918 (pp. 179-203). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Thomas Carlyle, the X-Club and the Hero as Man of Science, Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831–1918 (pp. 117-148). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- The Decline of the British Association? Marginalization, Masculinity and Marconi, Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831–1918 (pp. 149-178). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- The Changing Public Image of the ‘Man of Science’, 1600–1830, Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831–1918 (pp. 19-47). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- New Masculine Heroes: Davy, Bacon and the Construction of the Gentleman-Scientist, Masculinity and Science in Britain, 1831–1918 (pp. 49-84). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Stoicism in Victorian Culture In Sellars J (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of the Stoic Tradition (pp. 319-330). London: Routledge.
- ‘These Heroic Days’: Marxist Internationalism, Masculinity, and Young British Scientists, 1930s–40s, Transnational Histories of Youth in the Twentieth Century (pp. 70-91). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Introduction: Constructing Juvenile Delinquency in a Global Context, Juvenile Delinquency and the Limits of Western Influence, 1850–2000 (pp. 1-16). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Enlightened Networks: Anglo-German Collaboration in Classical Scholarship, Anglo-German Scholarly Networks in the Long Nineteenth Century (pp. 21-38). BRILL
- “Intercourse with Foreign Philosophers”: Anglo-German Collaboration and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1870–1914, Anglo-German Scholarly Networks in the Long Nineteenth Century (pp. 176-194). BRILL
- National and Transnational Spaces: Academic Networks and Scholarly Transfer Between Britain and Germany in the Nineteenth Century, The Nation State and Beyond (pp. 127-148). Springer Berlin Heidelberg
- Mass Education and the Limits of State Building, c.1870–1930 In Brockliss L & Sheldon N (Ed.) Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Elite Education and the Development of Mass Elementary Schooling in England, 1870–1930, Mass Education and the Limits of State Building, c.1870–1930 (pp. 46-70). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- ‘Boys, Semi-Men and Bearded Scholars’: Maturity and Manliness in Early Nineteenth-Century Oxford, What is Masculinity? (pp. 263-282). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Corporal Punishment in the English Public School in the Nineteenth Century In Brockiss LWB & Montgomery H (Ed.), Childhood and Violence in the Western Tradition Oxford: Oxbow Books Limited.
- Introduction In Ellis HL & Meyer J (Ed.), Masculinity and the Other Historical Perspectives (pp. 1-19). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Newman and Arnold: Classics, Christianity and Manliness in Tractarian Oxford In Stray C (Ed.), Oxford Classics Teaching and Learning 1800-2000 (pp. 46-63). London: Duckworth.
Book reviews
- Manliness in Britain, 1760-1900: Bodies, Emotion, and Material Culture. VICTORIAN STUDIES, 64(3), 476-477.
- Teaching Britain: Elementary Teachers and the State of the Everyday, 1846–1906. By Christopher Bischof. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. x+230. $93.00. The Journal of Modern History, 94(1), 192-193.
- The X-Men and their networks of power. Metascience, 29(3), 461-463.
- Ben Barres. The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist. Foreword by Nancy Hopkins. xviii + 142 pp., notes, index. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2018. $21.95 (cloth). ISBN 9780262039116.. Isis, 111(2), 436-436.
- A chemical passion: the forgotten story of chemistry at British independent girls’ schools, 1820s–1930s, by Marelene Rayner-Canham and Geoff Rayner-Canham. History of Education, 48(1), 142-143.
- Trinity in war and revolution 1912–1923, by Tomás Irish. Paedagogica Historica, 54(4), 523-524.
- William C. Lubenow, “Only Connect”: Learned Societies in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Journal of Modern History, 89(4), 936-937.
- CLASSICS, CLASS AND BRITISH SOCIAL REFORM -
(H.) Stead, (E.) Hall (edd.) Greek and Roman Classics in the British Struggle for Social Reform. Pp. xvi + 368, ills. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. Cased, £110, €124, US$148. ISBN: 978-1-4725-8426-7.. The Classical Review, 67(2), 557-559.
- Peter Medway, John Hardcastle, Georgina Brewis, and David Crook, English teachers in a postwar democracy: emerging choice in London schools, 1945-1965 (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Pp. xix + 243. 8 figs. ISBN 99781137005137 Hbk. £55). The Economic History Review, 68(3), 1080-1081.
- Publishing Business in Eighteenth-Century England.ByJames Raven. Boydell. 2014. xiv + 334pp. £17.99.. History, 100(341), 469-471.
- Empire of scholars: universities, networks and the British academic world, 1850–1939. History of Education, 44(1), 115-117.
- Men and masculinities in modern Britain: A history for the present
Men and masculinities in modern Britain: A history for the present
, edited by Matt Houlbrook, Katie Jones and Ben Mechen, 2024, Manchester, Manchester University Press, viii+323 pp., £25.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-5261-7469-7, 1-2.
- Book Review: Out of His Mind: Masculinity and Mental Illness in Victorian Britain by Amy Milne-Smith, 2022, Manchester, Manchester University Press, x + 311pp., £85.00 (hardback), ISBN: 978-1-5261-5503-0. Women's History Review.
- Review (English): Johan Östling, David Larsson Heidenblad and Anna Nilsson Hammar (eds.), Forms of Knowledge: Developing the History of Knowledge. Nordic Journal of Educational History, 8(1).
Conference proceedings papers
- Whewell, Gender and Science. William Whewell: Victorian Polymath. Pittsburgh
- Enlightened Networks: Anglo-German Collaboration in Classical Scholarship. ANGLO-GERMAN SCHOLARLY NETWORKS IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY, Vol. 43 (pp 23-37)
Datasets
- Makerspaces in the Early Years: Current Perceptions and Practices of Early Years Practitioners, Library and Museum Educators and Makerspace Staff - A Survey.
- UK (Sheffield) (Makerspaces in the Early Years).
Other
- Mapping the history of education: intersections and regional trends. History of Education.
- Editorial. History of Education, 49(1), 1-3.
- Masculinity and Science in Britain 1831-1918 . Palgrave Macmillan UK.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
- Refereeing for the following journals: Cultural and Social History, English Historical Review, Historical Journal, History of Education, History of Universities, Journal of Victorian Culture
- Member of the Executive Committee of the History of Education Society and member of the Editorial board for the Society’s journal, History of Education.
- Co-convenor of the BERA History SIG