Institute of Historical Research

Medical History and the Bibliography of British and Irish History   - On History Rachel Peacock recently completed a summer internship at the IHR, where she focused on medical history and health in the Bibliography of British and Irish History. In this blog, she explores…

Building on their Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) internship on medicine and health, @rachelpeacock.bsky.social explores in our latest On History blog Victorian understandings of mental illness through the example of intruders on Queen Victoria’s privacy tinyurl.com/b47xyh34

🖥 We have a number of online research training courses starting in October.

Visit the IHR website to register and find detailed information on each course: www.history.ac.uk/study-traini...

Celebration and Resistance: Explore LGBTQ+ collections and more at History Day 2025 Every year in November we host History Day, an event for students, researchers and history enthusiasts.

Celebration and Resistance: Explore LGBTQ+ collections and more at History Day 2025 🎉

This #HistDay25 we're partnering with @justinbengry.bsky.social to create a Queer History and Heritage Trail highlighting queer stories, figures & collections. Hear from Justin here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

More information and how to book www.london.ac.uk/senate-house...

Celebrate National Poetry Day with us by joining Professor @cathamclarke.bsky.social for a closer look at this beautiful edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales.’

This edition dates back to 1492 and was printed by Richard Pinson!

History Day History Day and the History Day: Discover Collections website bring together researchers and collections in-person and online

It's here! Sign up for History Day 4 Nov 2025. #HistDay25 Together with @senatehouselib.bsky.social we are celebrating all things history with collections from galleries, libraries, archives, museums & more. Find out what it's all about and book your free spot. www.history.ac.uk/library-digi...

Fellowships Our Fellows are an essential part of the IHR's vibrant research community.

It was an absolute pleasure to welcome the new IHR fellows today alongside @ihr.bsky.social colleagues, led by Jade Chesterton. Such fascinating, rich and necessary research in history and beyond. Find out more: www.history.ac.uk/fellowships

YouTube video by Institute of Historical Research Equal pay – a long time coming. Reflections on the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act

We’re pleased to be able to share the recording of our online seminar @ihr.bsky.social on 17 September which reflected on what we can learn from the history of equal pay legislation, with the help of Sally Brett and Megan Fisher. youtu.be/KRDzkWi14cE

We too are very excited for the publication of the latest #OpenAccess book in our #NewHistoricalPerspectives series, Atlantic Isles by @grod.bsky.social!

Published with the @ihr.bsky.social and @royalhistsoc.org with funding from @jisc.bsky.social.

Read more:
uolpress.co.uk/book/atlanti...

Panel Discussion: “Global History and Planetary Histories” Planetary Histories seminar- session 1

Global History and Planetary Histories

On 9 October, 17.30 GMT, join the 1st session of the @ihr.bsky.social Planetary Histories seminars, a panel discussion with Emma Rothschild 👉 loom.ly/30DV37s

Organised by our own Glenda Sluga and Giorgio Riello with Andrew Fitzmaurice and Thomas Simpson

Join Dr Richard Ansell (Birkbeck) for a free online seminar. 5:30-7:30pm London time on Wed. Oct 8 via zoom. “Travel Journals and Other Traces of Servants on the Grand Tour”. From valets to maids, dis... TikTok video by Long 18th Century Seminar IHR

Join us next Wednesday (8-10) in person at the IHR or online from 5:30pm to Dr Richard Ansell’s paper ‘Travel Journals and Other Traces of Servants on the Grand Tour’. Register with the following link: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Richard outlines the paper here:
www.tiktok.com/@long18thcen...

Are you an emerging scholar researching Black British history and looking for opportunities to share your research? Please get in touch with @oliviawyatt1999.bsky.social or Meleisa Ono George via contact info below to take part in this ⚡️ talks session @ihr.bsky.social (and please share widely!)

In this lecture, Catherine Clarke will re-visit the question of what makes history radical, asking what kind of radical history we need in our public life and contemporary context today. In particular, she’ll explore ways in which popular history – trade publishing for a wide public audience – has the capacity to be radical, drawing on experiences and examples from her own new book A History of England in 25 Poems (Penguin Allen Lane, September 2025). Catherine’s lecture will move towards a manifesto for how research-led, scholarship-driven popular history can and does make necessary, vital public interventions – from opening inclusive conversations and confronting the rise of AI, to modelling radical empathy and imagination.

I'm hugely honoured and very excited to be giving this year's Historical Research #Lecture at @ihr.bsky.social, on 'Can popular #history be radical? Historical research and writing for the #public'. Tuesday 4 November, all welcome. More info in AltText. Book here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

programme of hte Low Countries Seminar, Institute of Historical research, Fridays 17:30 17 October: Alexander Marr: Three Renaissance ‘Grotesques’: Holbein, Dürer, Massys 31 October: Dirk van Miert: The Synod of Dordrecht: binding the Anglo-Dutch orthodox Republic of Letters 17 November: Eliot Benbow: Low Countries Merchants in and around London c. 1350-1550: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods programme of hte Low Countries Seminar, Institute of Historical research, Fridays 17:30 17 October: Alexander Marr: Three Renaissance ‘Grotesques’: Holbein, Dürer, Massys 31 October: Dirk van Miert: The Synod of Dordrecht: binding the Anglo-Dutch orthodox Republic of Letters 28 November: Eliot Benbow: Low Countries Merchants in and around London c. 1350-1550: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods

PROGRAMME! Excited to be welcoming Alexander Marr, Dirk van Miert, and @ebenbow.bsky.social this term -- and David Hopkin, Jeroen Puttevils, Feike Dietz, Sam Geens, Valika Smeulders, and Gloria Moorman in Spring.

All welcome @ihr.bsky.social or zoom! www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... #SkyStorians

Book now for a special day conference @ihr.bsky.social on Thursday 30 October organised by our Trades Union & Employment Forum to mark the 60th anniversary of the introduction of industrial tribunals in the UK. You can register for it via the following link: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Autumn 2025 schedule for the Institute of Historical Research's Earlier Middle Ages seminar. Full information available at https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/seminars/earlier-middle-ages

📣 The Earlier Middle Ages seminar @ihr.bsky.social is now on Bluesky! Here's our autumn term schedule. First up is @rorynaismith.bsky.social on 8 October, giving the annual David Wilson Lecture (with @uclarchaeology.bsky.social). All welcome! Please sign up here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Hello! I've added you to the IHR Bluesky start pack.

Working on pre-modern customs records, in any context? We're running a session "Quayside and Custom House: Customs Accounts as a Source for Medieval and Early Modern Urban History" at EAUH 2026 Barcelona. Paper submissions very welcome! www.eauhbarcelona2026.eu/sessions/#se...

Call for Participation | History and Archives in Practice 2026 Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: the Impact of Archives and Historical Research

🚨The call for papers for the History and Archives in Practice 2026 conference #HAP26 is now live! 🚨

Along with @ihr.bsky.social @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy @royalhistsoc.org we invite you to explore 'Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: The Impact of Archives and Historical Research' ⬇️

🎉The call for participation for #HAP26 is now open!

Alongside @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy, @royalhistsoc.org & @unisheffieldlib.bsky.social we invite you to explore the theme 'Shaping Societies, Improving Lives: The Impact of Archives and Historical Research'.

Apply today: bit.ly/46VfEVY

To attend, please register at the event of your choice here. If you have signed up but suddenly find yourself unable to make it, you can relinquish your spot by emailing: ihr.events@sas.ac.uk. If you would like to attend in-person and the event reads as fully booked, please do drop by anyway as we can always find some extra chairs! Thursday 16 October, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm Lyndal Roper (University of Oxford), Turbulence and the German Peasants’ War of 1524-6 Please register here if you would like to attend. Hybrid. Online-via Zoom & Room 243, Second Floor, Senate House Thursday 30 October, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm Emily Vine (University of Exeter), Birth, Death and Domestic Religion in Early Modern London Please register here if you would like to attend. Hybrid | Online-via Zoom & IHR Wolfson Room NB02, Basement, IHR, Senate House Thursday 27 November, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm Nailya Shamgunova (University of East Anglia), ‘English and Scottish Scholars at the Global Library, c. 1500-1700’ Please register here if you would like to attend. Hybrid | Online-via Zoom & IHR Wolfson Room NB02, Basement, IHR, Senate House

We're back! 🎉 And we're thrilled to announce our term card for Autumn 2025! Our first event is on Thursday 16 October at 5.30 pm. Lyndal Roper will be discussing 'Turbulence and the German Peasants' War of 1524-6'. You can register to attend the event at: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

What can you expect to find at #HistDay25 our celebration of history collections with @senatehouselib.bsky.social? Come along and find out on 4 Nov. Book your free space here www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

We have published a new Policy Paper by @jmoss88.bsky.social & @emilyrobinson.bsky.social. They argue that Mass Observation @massobsarchive.bsky.social should be revived with state funding to help us understand the reasons behind contemporary voter apathy. historyandpolicy.org/policy-paper...

Great! I've added you to the IHR Starter Pack.

Photograph of the Black People’s Day of Action, March 1981

The IHR Black British History seminar series is now on BlueSky!

Follow us for updates and keep your eyes peeled for information about our upcoming seminars 👀

@ihr.bsky.social #BlackBritishHistory #historians #academia

Migration and Mobility History Call for Papers: IHR History Lab and Migration and Mobility Seminar Taking place at the IHR Senate House and online, 10th February 2026, 5.30pm-7.30pm. The IHR History Lab and Migration and Mobility are coming together for a special edition of our seminar series to showcase the work of PGRs and ECRs working on migration and mobility history. We invite submissions of 20 minute papers from PGRs and ECRs on the topic of migration and mobility (broadly defined), focusing on any period or place. This is an opportunity to share your research with, and recieve feedback from, established and emerging scholars working on migration and mobility studies. To apply, send abstracts of under 250 words, with a short bio, to Kathleen Commons at kabcommons@gmail.com by 5pm on 15th November.

Migration and Mobility History About the Seminars History Lab is the national network for postgraduate students in history and related disciplines. Based at the Institute of Historical Research, it serves as an intellectual and social forum that connects, empowers, and supports the postgraduate community. The IHR Migration and Mobility seminar provides a space for historians and scholars from other disciplines to come together to discuss migration and mobility in history. The seminar seeks to attract papers on a diverse range of themes and periods in migration and mobility history, including the emerging field of pre-modern migration histories, and histories of migration within the Global South. We will take an interdisciplinary approach, working with sociologists, legal scholars, and geographers with an interest in historical migration and mobility. if you have any queries about this seminar, contact Kathleen at kabcommons@gmail.com

📢 New Seminar Series!

We are thrilled to be working alongside @ihr.bsky.social on a brand new seminar series titled Migration and Mobility. We are coming together for a special edition of the seminar to showcase the work of PGRs and ECRs on migration and mobility history (1/3)

History Day History Day and the History Day: Discover Collections website bring together researchers and collections in-person and online

It's here! Sign up for History Day 4 Nov 2025. #HistDay25 Together with @senatehouselib.bsky.social we are celebrating all things history with collections from galleries, libraries, archives, museums & more. Find out what it's all about and book your free spot. www.history.ac.uk/library-digi...

The 2025 Being Human Festival programme is now live! 💫 This year's festival runs from 6 - 15 November 2025. With over 220 events taking place in 46 towns and cities across the UK, there is a wide range of events to suit everyone's curiosities.
Programme highlights: bit.ly/3IsbVWI
#BeingHuman2025

Call for papers for a seminar for ECRs and PGRs on migration and mobility history

Call for Papers! @ihrhistorylab.bsky.social x @ihr.bsky.social Migration and Mobility Seminar special edition - we want papers on all types of migration and mobility history from ECRs and PGRs. Abstracts to kabcommons [@] gmail.com by 15th November. Pls spread the word & DM with any questions