"department of history" blog posts
Closing the Gap: Supporting School Students to Success
Can you remember your time at school? Think back to the opportunities and experiences available. Did the school encourage you and your fellow classmates to go on to study at a highly selective university?
Posted on: 5 April 2022
Beyond the Viking homestead, the example of Aud the Deep-minded
Two major roles have been discussed for women in the Viking Age, the conforming housewife who took care of the homestead, and her polar opposite the fierce shieldmaiden. However, my research focuses outside these categories, on women who went abroad with Viking fighting forces who were not warriors. Often these women are nameless in literary sources, but one stands out from the Icelandic Sagas, Aud the Deep-minded.
Posted on: 9 March 2022
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Mapping Fascism Across Europe
Image credit: Pascual Marín, A group of members of the SF in Gipuzkoa rendering the Roman salute (1937). Kutxa Fototeka, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Posted on: 9 March 2022
Mala Zimetbaum- An Auschwitz Heroine
Mala Zimetbaum was a 22-year-old woman of Polish Jewish descent who was living in Belgium when the Second World War began. Mala’s life, along with millions of others, was turned upside down by the Nazi invasion of the country in May 1940. In September 1942, at the age of 24, Mala was deported to Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.
Posted on: 9 March 2022
Books to read for the celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month
If you are like me and love celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month by reading stories that include queer identities, I have a list of fiction stories to recommend. However, it’s important to also read non-fiction and own voices stories and I highly recommend doing that too.
Posted on: 8 February 2022
Semester 1 Summaries: Bethan Asher
The first semester of my second year studying history at Liverpool has been a blast. Having lived in student accommodation at the on-campus Crown Place Halls of Residence last year, I was worried that living slightly further out of the city would be difficult. Quite the opposite- living in a house with five of my friends has been so much fun. Living in halls last year was exciting and a great way to make new friends with people doing a broad range of courses and all from different places. The university made such an effort to make halls feel like home with weekly activities to do with flatmates and events in the social areas. There are so many options here in terms of accommodation and the best thing is that most of them are pretty good value!
Posted on: 16 December 2021
Professor Charles Forsdick reflects on the importance of decolonising the curriculum
As part of BHM Professor Charles Forsdick reflects on the importance of decolonising the curriculum within the University of Liverpool’s relaunched MA in International Slavery.
Posted on: 22 October 2021
‘Bath 250: A Virtual Conference to Mark the 250th Anniversary of the New Assembly Rooms At Bath’
On 30th September 1771, the Upper Rooms in Bath opened their doors for the first time. Two hundred and fifty years later, the Bath 250 conference welcomed scholars from across the globe to celebrate this momentous occasion.
Posted on: 13 October 2021
‘News you’re not supposed to know’: Uncovering the birth of Liverpool Free Press 1971-77
This little newspaper, run on a shoestring and staffed by part-timers in a tiny office, was responsible for investigating and breaking the news of a huge corruption scandal that ended with three prison terms for local councillors and business leaders.
Posted on: 10 May 2021
Four historic places to visit now in Liverpool
After feeling like we have been stuck inside for an eternity, students across Liverpool can slowly start to enjoy the beautiful locations in this historic city. Whilst Liverpool’s museums and indoor facilities are closed, take advantage of the sun and being allowed outdoors and explore some historic sites.
Posted on: 12 April 2021
Remembering the working class Suffragettes
Holding my £5 note with Winston Churchill’s face on it to buy my period supplies, would normally bring me anger, as this country still glorifies a man who worked against women having the right to vote.
Posted on: 15 March 2021
From Uzbekistan, with love: the communist career of Evgeniia Zel’kina
The biography of Evgeniia L’vovna Zel’kina cuts an unexpected path across the history of early Soviet Uzbekistan. Zel’kina was born in 1900 in Moscow, in the family of a Jewish doctor. After 1917, likely captivated by the new revolutionary ideology, she studied to become a professional activist at the Institute of Red Professors.
Posted on: 12 March 2021
Why we need to disrupt gendered perceptions of sexual crime
When it comes to an event such as Women’s History Month, we rightly celebrate women’s achievements and the historical contributions that they have made, in addition to exploring women’s lives and experiences.
Posted on: 1 March 2021
Out and proud - the legacy of the Gay Liberation Front
The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) originated in America, with the famous Stonewall Riots on 27 June 1969 and leading figures such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. By 1970, the idea had been brought over to the London School of Economics and the first meeting was held in a basement with 19 people on the 13 October 1970. Within a month, after leafleting and more meetings, the crowds of attendees grew.
Posted on: 24 February 2021
Where are all the Trans People in History?
Many trans people, myself included, wonder why we never learn about all of the amazing transgender people in history. Of course, being trans is not all there is to know about me, but it's still something I’m very proud of and that I continue to engage with. I love the community that I am a part of! I love both learning about history, as a history student, and being trans, so it's upsetting to see a lack of trans representation in history books. So where are all the trans people in history? Here are four trans people who have contributed to the progress of the trans community and our rights...
Posted on: 4 February 2021
Sex and 'Sexuality' in South Asian History
While the British justified the conquest and colonisation of a quarter of the world’s population on the grounds that they were bringing the ‘rule of law’ to peoples who had none, in reality they superimposed an alien legal system upon often complex pre-existing legal norms.
Posted on: 29 January 2021