History at Bristol

I’m very pleased to working on this new project seeking to embed silenced voices in the new Natural History GCSE curriculum. This is a fabulous collaboration with Rising Arts Agency, colleagues in the School of Education and Bristol Museum. Thanks to @hellobrigstow.bsky.social.

Historians in their robes

Bristol historians all dressed up for graduation. It’s an absolute highlight of the year getting to celebrate the many achievements of our history students!

Come join us for our first @remakingbritain.bsky.social project event to launch the South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories digital resource, a partnership of @uobartsmatter.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social @uobrishistory.bsky.social
@bristolunienglish.bsky.social @britishlibrary.bsky.social

And southasianbritain.org is live - 33 months in the making - partnership by @uobrishistory.bsky.social @bristolunienglish.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social & @britishlibrary.bsky.social, funded by @ukri.org/ahrc - 750+ entries, 30+oral histories, newly digitised archival docs & more; spread the word

The book tracks animal specimens (with a focus on skins) from British colonial hunting grounds, through transportation networks, via taxidermy studios and exhibitions to museums. It explores how - even when produced within systems of violence- skins remained ecosystems…

I’ve been sitting on this one for a good while, but I’m chuffed that my book ‘Skinning Empire: Environment, Embodiment and Time in British Taxidermy History’ will be published with OUP. Probably out next year! 🐅

A privilege to introduce Professor Bronwyn Wilson's keynote lecture on 'Mediterranean Itineraries' for the @srsrensoc.bsky.social. A brilliant start to four days of things #Renaissance and #earlymodern in Bristol
@bristoluni.bsky.social @uobrishistory.bsky.social

Hear more about Vanessa Northington Gamble’s work from this time - on wrong- doing and ethics - here: ethicsinpractice.net/episode/apol...

And it's out! Open access and free to download. Thank you @wellcometrust.bsky.social and @manchesterup.bsky.social. Excited to see it out in the world (and sure that despite all the proof reading, I will find typos) @hsmurphy.bsky.social @historyelaine.bsky.social @medievalbadger.bsky.social

Medieval play to be performed for first time in 500 years Audience members can expect "a unique experience combining feast and drama"

We're in Bristol 24/7! www.bristol247.com/culture/thea...

Reconstructing the legacies of colonial detention: Digital heritage, memory, and the Mau Mau Emergency, 1952–1960 - Bethany Rebisz, 2025 This article examines the legacies of colonial detention in Kenya and considers the adaptive digital heritage practices used by the Museum of British Colonialis...

🔊 New Article: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @memorystudies.bsky.social

‘The story of RLF occupies a complex place within the history of medicine and disability studies, and provides a useful lens through which we can view both the positive and negative impacts of medical technology on people all across the globe….’

Find out more below!

Don't forget to email us at mapping-the-march@bristol.ac.uk for the link to this seminar today at 16:00 BST @bristolcms.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social @uobrishistory.bsky.social @uobartsmatter.bsky.social #medievalbluesky #medieval #medievalhistory #medievalseminar #mappingthemarch #Skystorians

Congrats to @themedievaldrk.bsky.social and Melek Karataş on the publication of Medieval Manuscripts in Bristol Collections, the latest title on our Bristol Studies in Medieval Cultures (BSMC) series with @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social. If you’d like to be next, get in touch! @bristolcms.bsky.social

📻 Dr Amy Edwards (@uobrishistory.bsky.social) joins David Dimbleby on BBC Radio 4 #InvisibleHands to discuss the use of advertising to promote Margaret Thatcher's BT privatisation campaign in the 1980s

Listen to the full programme 👉 bit.ly/4dYngsF

@somsproject.bsky.social

Hannah Rose Woods · Tactile Dreams The British aversion to touching wasn’t limited to the Victorian era: comparative studies confirm that we continue to...

'Intimate Subjects includes some irresistible case studies that illustrate the myriad ways in which touch was navigated and examined in the period.'

Dr Simeon Koole's (@uobrishistory.bsky.social) book, Intimate Subjects, is reviewed in this week's @lrb.co.uk

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

@victoriabates.bsky.social kindly interviewed @kellygcb.bsky.social & I for her new podcast on impact activities at Uni of Bristol. We talk about the ongoing collaboration with Professor Sam Goodman & re-launched series of talks: Think While You Drink

humsimpact.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2025/05/29/t...

A fantastic line up- including our very own Sim Koole’s Intimate Subjects!

Tupperware advertisement featuring a Joe Steinmetz photograph, c.1958, State Archives and Library of Florida, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250.

✍️ Dr Amy Edwards (@uobrishistory.bsky.social) shares her experience of working with @policybristol.bsky.social to turn her historical research on women's self-employment into clear recommendations for Select Committees

Read more about Amy's research & the SOMS project 👉 bit.ly/44ZvPkS

Archives! Fascinating #Avon archival material from the 1970s. A fantastic addition to the #SOMS research project.

@hagleycenter.bsky.social
@uobrishistory.bsky.social
@uobartsmatter.bsky.social
#SOMSproject
@ukri.org
#uobresearch
#archives

📣 The draft programme for our Environmental Humanities Summer School has landed and we're so excited to share it with you: bit.ly/4miqI5k ✨
There's still time to apply but you'll need to get your skates on as the deadline is the 25th of May. More details here: bit.ly/4j3sAfi ✨

Today!

Elon Musk, Henry Ford and the Rich Tradition of Rabble-Rousers

'Media ownership and political influence have gone hand in hand since the earliest days of the newspaper industry'

Prof Simon Potter (@uobrishistory.bsky.social) provides expert comment on the 'intimate relationship between the media and politics' for @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/t...

We’re very excited about this!

2025 Battle Conference Manchester 23-26 July The Conference will be hosted this year by the University of Manchester. The papers will be read in Rm A113 of the Samuel Alexander Building. Coffees/teas and lunches will be taken in the foyer of …

I’m over the moon to share that my essay, ‘Contributions to the Conquest: The Abbey of Fécamp and Maritime Memory’ was chosen as the winner of the Marjorie Chibnall Essay Prize for this year’s Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies battleconference.wordpress.com/2025-battle-... #Medievalsky

Massive congratulations @amycking.bsky.social !

Read the new blog post by Amy Edwards reflecting on the SOMS project that explores women and self-employment and on working with policy makers.

➡️https://historiansatbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/

@uobrishistory.bsky.social
@policybristol.bsky.social

➡️image courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library

📅 💬 Join us in Bristol: @mihatsch.bsky.social will speak at the History Department Research Seminar on May 13, 3:30 pm, LR8, Arts Complex, 21 Woodland Road, BS8 1TB, Clifton Campus. / @uobrishistory.bsky.social

looking forward to the ‘dead author’ session being run by @uobrishistory.bsky.social on my draft today, which(based on my experience of funerals) no doubt means that my colleagues are going to get together to
-be unreasonably nice about me ignoring my many faults
-divide up my book collection
-party

Really excited to see these articles going live from our forthcoming SI on ‘visual histories’, including theatre, photography, film, Victoria and Rebekah here on visual arts practice… and a co-authored comic from me, Olly and Louis. Watch this space!