Misha Ewen

My current role ends in October: if anyone needs a temporary tutor in early modern history or as a freelance researcher please do drop me a line! I have over 10 years experience in teaching and a wide practical knowledge of working in archives in the UK and abroad.

My new article on pauper apprenticeship is online and open access!

Bound to the soil (Part I): the origins of compulsory apprenticeship schemes in South-West rural England c.1670–1750

doi.org/10.1017/S026...

Indigenous Historical Practices Delve into Indigenous history with our History Workshop series, highlighting complex systems of historical knowledge and their significance.

How can we better approach the histories of Indigenous peoples?

Mary Katherine Newman introduces a new History Workshop series which will introduce a range of scholars, educators, and activists and the ways in which they examine Indigenous histories.

www.historyworkshop....

‘Bittersweet’: plaque unveiled for black footballer whose England call-up was rescinded It will be a day of mixed emotions for family of late, great Jack Leslie when ceremony is held in Plymouth

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

The Bonds of Freedom - Yale University Press London The story of the long fight for freedom of African captives rescued from the illegal slave trade only to be forced back into bondage  The Bonds of Freed...

Great to see that Jake Subryan Richards' book, The Bonds of Freedom: Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade (Yale, London) will be out in the autumn. Publication date 28 October 2025.

The Virginia Venture – Penn Press The Virginia Venture is an innovative exploration of how a wider public of women, children, and men across English society contributed to the foundation of t...

418 years ago today, Jamestown, Virginia—the first permanent English settlement in North America—was established. You can learn more about this event's importance to English society and early American history in @drmishaewen.bsky.social's book THE VIRGINIA VENTURE: bit.ly/4delPpE

And everyone should go and read it!

www.pennpress.org/978151282299...

The Real Wives of Jamestown

On the anniversary of the colonisation of Jamestown, @historytoday.com have made my article on the “Jamestown Brides” freely available: www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...
#onthisday #Jamestown #history #Virginia #women

14 May 1607: English colonists arrive at Jamestown. In my book The Virginia Venture @pennpress.bsky.social I explored the social history of this colonial project, from an English/transatlantic perspective involving women, the poor, children, institutions
#onthisday #Jamestown #Virginia #history

Digital Journeys: Preserving & Sharing Migration Collections Join us for our first Migration Network event dedicated to exploring collections - funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

If you're working in museum collections, digital storytelling, or on projects exploring migration history, join the Migration Network on 20 May 2025, 10:00-12:30 for this online event.

I haven’t been able to get into Bluesky yet, maybe still a bit traumatised from X…
In the meantime, posting slightly more interesting stuff about my research over on Insta @mishaewen12 ✨

Thanks, yep it is!

Aha thanks Jenny!

The forum is published by The William & Mary Quarterly

first page of article in the william & mary quarterly

contents page of the william & mary quarterly

So thrilled that my piece on Barbary Newton, a seventeenth-century enslaving woman is out in the world - part of a WMQ article forum, “Absentee Women Enslavers: Two Case Studies” - paired with Jared Ross Hardesty’s research on the Mackintosh sisters w/ reflections from Zacek, Maskiell & Amussen ✨

*VACANCY*

PhD in the study of religion and slavery in the context of Dutch colonialism and its afterlives at KITLV. Deadline: 16 May 2025 👇

vacatures.knaw.nl/job/Leiden-P...

Attention #skystorians! Do you work on public history, memory or Tudor history (broadly understood)? @estelleprnq.bsky.social and I are launching a new project on the Break with Rome and want to hear from you 1/2

Can anyone think of any instances when a mother might be deemed 'unnatural' in the period c.1700-1900?

I've got the more obvious things like infanticide, but I'm looking to branch out into other subversive female behaviours.

From the creation of lectureships to the closure of postgrad programmes, the last five years represent a tumultuous period within the study of #BlackBritishHistory

Join us for a roundtable: Black British History in 2025
🗓️ 6th March
⏰ 17:30
📍 IHR Wolfson Room NB01

www.history.ac.uk/events/black...

CFP: Caribbean Connections: Seventeenth-Century Barbados and Britain — Medicine and the Making of Race, 1440-1720

A few more days to get abstracts in for this workshop in June, with keynotes from Susan Amussen & Jenny Shaw!
www.mmor.co.uk/news/cfp-car...

The Portico Reunited: Manchester's historic library hosts a captivating experimental events programme this spring Throughout February and April, The Portico stages a diverse series of events to support its ongoing Reunited Project.

Experience the future of the Portico! We’ve got a number of experimental events to support our Reunited project, a £9 million transformation to make the Library more accessible and sustainable.

Check out this piece by @mcrwire.bsky.social & join us on this exciting journey! bit.ly/4kfH3GR

Photo of Stu Goldsmith in pink t-shirt, Dr Vanessa Heggie in black and white striped dress and red cardigan, and Greg Jenner in maroon knitwear. They’re all smiling in front of the BBC You’re Dead To Me podcast artwork on a TV screen

Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Vanessa Heggie and comedian Stu Goldsmith to learn all about the perilous history of Arctic exploration. From the fifteenth to twentieth centuries, Europeans searched for the Northwest Passage, a supposed seaway between the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean. Indigenous groups had been traversing the passage for centuries, using small skin boats and dog sleds, but from 1497, European expeditions were launched to find and claim it. Most of these ended in failure, with explorers either returning home empty handed or not returning at all. Some even got completely lost, arriving in Hawaii or North Carolina rather than Canada! In 1845, the most famous Arctic expedition, led by Sir John Franklin, was launched. Within a few months, his two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, with their crew of 129 souls, had vanished.

It was not until 1906 that a Norwegian team, led by Roald Amundsen, finally navigated the passage. This episode explores the often fatal quest for the Northwest Passage, charting the various expeditions that tried and failed to find and traverse it, uncovering the men who lost their lives looking for it, and asking why Europeans were so keen to explore such a hostile region of the world. And we unravel the mystery of just what happened to John Franklin and his men out there on the ice. If you're a fan of intrepid explorers, mysterious historical disappearances and the history of scientific advancement, you'll love our episode on Arctic Exploration.

You're Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past. Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Matt Ryan Written by: Matt Ryan, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: James Cook

New episode! This week on BBC You’re Dead To Me we turn our hands to Arctic Exploration and go in search of the deadly Northwest Passage

With expert historian @hpsvanessa.bsky.social and comedian @stuartgoldsmith.bsky.social

Listen now on BBC SOUNDS
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

ICYMI - I’m running a new online course in April exploring the connected histories of Pendle and Salem witch trials. If that’s your kind of thing, do consider signing up! Details below ⬇️

Donate to Help send the Farnham Heath End History buffs to Vienna !, organised by Farnham Heath End History Department I am the Head of History at Farnham Heath End and we are fund… Farnham Heath End History Department needs your support for Help send the Farnham Heath End History buffs to Vienna !

This is cool! A state school has defeated Eton to reach the finals of the International History Bowl & Bee in Vienna. They’re former winners, and are sending two young teams to compete again

They need help with travel costs, can you help these young historians? www.gofundme.com/f/send-the-f...

Layoffs begin at Dutch universities as deep budget cuts bite Institutions caught in a ‘perfect storm’ owing to reductions in government spending and international student restrictions

'Multiple Dutch universities have announced reorganisations that are likely to involve layoffs, in the wake of drastic government budget cuts that will amount to about €500 million (£414 million) a year across higher education and research.' 1/2

Screenshot of the front page of British Printed Images to 1700. Printed images border the screen on both sides, in the centre is the website title and various links: About, Search, Resources, Research.

📢NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER SERIES📢

Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.

🗃️ #Skystorians

manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...

a sunset sky with a lot of clouds Alt: Dawn of a new day

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, Vast Early America. Excited to be here.

📢WILLS PROJECT PROGRESS 📢

📜353,402 lines transcribed
🙋2,582 volunteers
⌛7,816 hours 23 minutes of work

We're staggered by the engagement with our wills. Thank you to every single person who has transcribed a line for us! 👏🙏🙌

#EarlyModern 🗃️ @leverhulme.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social

Caribbean Connections: Seventeenth-Century Barbados and Britain — Medicine and the Making of Race, 1440-1720 Organisers: Dr Michael Bennett (University of Sheffield), Dr Misha Ewen (University of Sussex), and Dr Hannah Murphy (MMoR & CEMS, KCL) Barbados is central to the global history of slavery. The ...

Can't get enough MMoR & @kingshistory.bsky.social conferences?? We're thrilled to be associated with "Caribbean Connections", organised by Michael Bennett and @drmishaewen.bsky.social and taking place 25-26 June at King's. See the CfP here.... #EarlyModern 🗃️

Decolonization’s Discontents: a lecture by Elisabeth Leake (Tufts) Eventbrite - Raphael Samuel History Centre presents Decolonization’s Discontents: a lecture by Elisabeth Leake (Tufts) - Thursday, 6 March 2025 at QMUL Graduate Centre, London, England. Find event and...

@emleake.bsky.social will be delivering a lecture 6th March titled Decolonization's Discontents, hosted jointly by @rshc.bsky.social , @qmul.ac.uk 's History and IHSS . It will be great, event (and wine reception) free, but do register here: eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...