Elena Mary

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Puts 490,000 High-Res Images Online & Makes Them Free to Use Update: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has put online 492,000 high-resolution images of artistic works. Even better, the museum has placed the vast majority of these images into the public domain, mea...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Puts 490,000 High-Res Images Online & Makes Them Free to Use

Why does writing a first draft always feel like one of those nightmares where you have an exam you havent prepared for??? Like, I'm back at school and I have to do my GCSE physics exam but I dont have my calculator and I havent revised and also I'm 31 and I'm pretty sure I've done this all before...

solidarity!!

If I just read one more thing, then I'll start actually writing my draft, definitely, but I just need to read this one thing which will probably solve everything and be the crucial piece of the jigsaw I've been missing... right? 🗃️

The Rise and Fall of the Gifted Child - Digital Childhoods This spring, Jennifer Crane published her new book ‘Gifted Children’ in Britain and the World: Elitism and Equality since 1945 with Oxford University Press (open access). It expands upon the article “...

This week on the blog, check out this fun interview with Jennifer Crane (@jennycrane.bsky.social) all about her fascinating new book on the rise, fall, and legacy of gifted children in the UK and the world: shcydigitalchildhoods.org/dir/the-rise...

Thinking of every academic who has had to apply for grants to cover the cost of requesting and licensing images for their books with zero assistance from a publisher

Looking forward to listening to this on my train journey tomorrow!

Congratulations!

Currently gazing in my wardrobe in abject despair… Are shorts acceptable do we think…? Weighing up my veneer of professionalism against the possibility of fainting on the central line

A beautiful closeup of pink and white magnolia flowers, on an extended branch. There is a bright blue sky in the background.

Your thought for the day is that magnolias existed 95 million years ago, which means that dinosaurs were around to enjoy them. Bees hadn’t evolved yet, so they were pollinated by ancient beetles!

Next time you see a magnolia tree, think of your dinosaur cousins. ☺️ #science

Book launch poster for book launch with Jenny Crane, new book Gifted Children in Britain and the World, Sarah Kenny, new book Growing up and going out, and Hannah Charnock, new book Teenage intimacies - all in discussion with Laura Tisdall. Date is 12 June, 12-1, via teams https://tinyurl.com/mryazrew

Triple book launch for myself, @drsarahlkenny.bsky.social, and @hannahcharnock.bsky.social! Thanks to @lauratisdall.bsky.social for chairing.

Please do join if you're interested in social and cultural approaches to young people's lives and leisure spaces.

12 June, 12-1, tinyurl.com/mryazrew

Congratulations!! Can’t wait to read this!

I thought of the epilogue as something to offer an engaged and interested reader to summarise/deepen the argument already made whereas the conclusion was pitched more at an undergraduate who might not even read the rest of it. also writing the epilogue was really fun...!

Yes, the epilogue was about 30 pages (A4 double spaced) whereas the conclusion was only 6 pages - a brief top level summary of the overall argument/arguments of each chapter, and then a discussion of the avenues this opened up for future work and a reflection on the contemporary relevance of my work

I don’t know if this counts as it’s not (yet) a monograph, but I did an epilogue in my phd thesis which was a biographical case study. I saw it as an opportunity to draw together the themes of the thesis but adopt a different, lighter, more narrative tone. This meant my conclusion was very short!

Graphic for RHS article in History Workshop, 'Making the Case for History: A View from the Royal Historical Society'.

'Making the Case for History: A View from the Royal Historical Society': bit.ly/4cRjK37

The Society's President, Lucy Noakes, writes today on the profession and discipline @historywo.bsky.social

#skystorians

Thank you Lucy!

Thank you Ben!

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you Lucy!!

Ah thank you so much that's so lovely to hear!

Thank you!!

Thank you so much!

Strangled Women: Popular Culture, ‘Conservative Modernity’ and Erotic Violence in Britain, c.1890–1950 This article analyses popular novels and films in early-mid twentieth-century Britain. It argues that strangled women were increasingly depicted in violent narratives of adventure and domination by...

If you are interested in my work, I published some of this research as an article for Cultural & Social History last history, available open access here: doi.org/10.1080/1478...
I also post on instagram as @historywithelena www.instagram.com/historywithe... - give me a follow if you hang out there!

Huge thanks are also due to my examiners Professor Amanda Vickery and @cadebellaigue.bsky.social for such a rigorous, productive and thought-provoking discussion of my work

Sharing my acknowledgements bc I so loved reading other people's whilst I was writing up - it just would not have been possible to do this project without the love and support of friends, family and colleagues - most especially my brilliant and generous supervisor Sian Pooley

Image of the title page of a thesis

contents page of the thesis

contents page of the thesis

short abstract of the thesis

📢 An update - now the dust has settled I'm really thrilled to share that I finally submitted my thesis on the cultural history of the female neck in modern Britain earlier this year and passed my viva just over a week ago!! 🗃️🎉🥳

On my moodboard today is Rossetti’s sumptuous ‘Lady Lilith’. Just look at that neck! The abundance of flowers in this painting always makes me think of spring - not to mention the sudden urge to grow my hair! 🌷🪞✨🗃️