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School of History

Research Community

In the School of History, academic research encourages our members to realise their potential and pursue their interests. We do so through a variety of work styles, that are suitable to each researcher and each project. 

We share a desire to make our research excellent, innovative, and often disruptive. All of our provisions encourage such aspirations and we constantly learn from each other.

We share these endeavors with our Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and Postdoctoral Researchers (PDRs) from whom we also learn a great deal.

We have developed a distinctive style of collegiality, and while we have clear areas of strength defined by period and region, we also come together around themes, concepts and methodologies. This sharing of interests is promoted by a regular School seminar, in Research Centres, and in reading groups. We workshop drafts of publications and share expertise and learn from each other.

Our research also benefits from collaborations within Queen Mary. Several of our team supervise PhD jointly with colleagues from the Schools of Geography, English, Law, and Politics. Our Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (IHSS) promotes research activities across the disciplines with funding to centres and collaborative networks, and by the appointment of Visiting Global Professors.

Our School also benefits from the Distinguished Visiting Fellows scheme, which has allowed us to host international scholars: Sara Lipton, John Tolan, and Tawfiq Deadlee. 

Our research environment benefits a great deal from the involvement of many members of the School in public conversations informed by historical knowledge and insight. Our Mile End Institute (MEI) is distinctive in its orientation towards policy.

Work with museums, commentary on political change, and delivery of Lecture series aimed at broad audiences are some of the ways in which our history informs and is informed by the world around us. Our PGRs and PDRs are similarly encouraged and offered training towards such public uses of our research. 

All of what we do at the School of History, leads to a research environment that nurtures exciting research that is the product of collective endeavour.

New events will be posted here. 

Our Annual and Biennial Lectures are hubs for interaction and exchange and are open to all members of the School as well as to broader audiences. These are:

The distinguished colleagues who deliver these lectures are usually the School's guests for several days, during which time they deliver seminars, advise PhD students and spend quality time with members of the School.

Our research is embedded within the various forums of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Faculty and the opportunities it offers. The Institute of HSS is a hub for inter-disciplinary events, ranging from workshops to lectures by visiting scholars.
 
The international dimension is central to our research culture, in a School whose members are diverse in terms of their educational and disciplinary formation. Alongside the regular flow of international visitors to our School and Faculty, we maintain regular contacts through annual exchanges with the universities of Basel, Delaware, Freiburg, and Northwestern. We regularly also receive researchers funded by the European Research Council, who execute their research in our School and among us.

Global Health Security and Pandemics

This digital series is organised by the Mile End Institute and available to view online.

Mile End Institute podcast - Debating politics, policy and public life

Listen in to the Mile End Institute podcast series in which we bring together politicians, commentators, academics, students, and members of the public to discuss and debate the major challenges facing the country in a fast-moving and ever-changing world.

Hidden Histories podcast series

Hidden Histories sees QMUL PhD student Helen Carr exploring some of the country's hidden treasures, as she and some of our finest historians scramble through the actual spaces where history happened. Whether she's visiting the whorehouses of Covent Garden, or retracing the steps of the Peasants Revolt, Helen and her guests are a delightful guide to the hidden histories that lie just off the beaten track. Listen to her conversations with AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinkers here.

Snapshots of German-Jewish History and Culture

This digital series, hosted by the Leo Baeck Institute, gives you an insight into the Institute's collection of rare books, historical pamphlets and documents. 

Global Health Security and Pandemics

A Mile End Institute YouTube series on global health security and pandemics, presented by Professor Sophie Harman (QMUL). Watch here.

The Future of British Democracy

The Mile End Institute's series on the 'Future of British Democracy' explores reform of the civil service, the role of the judiciary and judicial review, corruption, and the role of the House of Lords. Join here.

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