Departmental News
Postdoctorate Opportunities
The School of History at the University of Kent intends to support an application in any area of history for the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship scheme.
For more information, click here
Potential applicants are invited to send in a CV of 1 page and also a research proposal of 1000 words to the Head of School, Prof. Kenneth Fincham (K.C.Fincham@kent.ac.uk), no later than 5pm on 17 February 2010.
Informal enquiries may be directed to Prof. Kenneth Fincham (Head of Department), Professor Crosbie Smith (Director of Research) or Professor David Welch (Director of Graduate Studies).
Inaugural Lecture
Professor Mark Connelly will deliver the School of History's inaugural lecture on Friday, 19 Febuary at 5:15pm.
It will be entitled "Steady the Buffs: the East Kent Regiment on the Western Front, 1914-1918", and will be held in Woolf LT1.
This is an open lecture - all are welcome to attend.
Another New MA!
The School of History is excited to announce a new taught MA in the History of Science, Technology, the Environment and Medicine, launching in September 2010.
As always, our courses are taught by the leading academics in their field, the School of History at Kent being rated second nationally in the Research Assessment Exercise 2008.
Students applying for this course will also be eligible to apply for our newly announced (and virtually unrivalled) scholarships for taught MA programmes - see here for more details.
This is the second MA programme launched by the School of History within two years, the already popular Modern History programme having commenced in September 2009. This once again demonstrates the School's committment to Postgraduate Students.
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Students will take a core course in the autumn term, on the ‘History of Science, Technology, Medicine and Environment’, then choose two optional modules from a menu of six in the spring term.
In the summer term students research and write a dissertation of up to 20,000 words on a theme arising from their work on the MA.
This new MA is currently undergoing approval, and final go-ahead should be given by March 2010.
New Postgraduate Funding Opportunities
The School of History is well known for its research excellence and its commitment to postgraduate students.
In order to offer our postgraduates the best possible start to their study, the School of History is pleased to announce an increase in the number of scholarships available for September 2010, including the virtually unprecedented step of funding taught MA programmes!
These include:
- Four £11,000 Postgraduate Research Studentships.
- Two £8,000 Graduate Teaching Assistant Studentships
- Two £7,500 Postgraduate Taught Studentships
The application deadline for these opportunities is Friday 29 January 2010. For more information, please click here.
'Today Germany, Tomorrow the World'
On 10 December, Professor David Welch presented a paper entitled 'Today Germany, Tomorrow the World'. Nazi Propaganda and Total War 1939-45 at an international conference in Brussels, sponsored by the Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (Ceges-Soma) 'War and Society in 20th Century Europe' .
CEGS-SOMA are currently celebrating their 40 anniversary. For more information, please visit: www.ceges40soma.eu.
New Appointment in the History of Modern Medicine
The School of History is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Julie Anderson to the post of Senior Lecturer in the History of Medicine.
Dr Anderson's area of expertise is the cultural and social history of 20th century medicine in Britain and the Commonwealth, particularly with regards to war and medicine, surgery and disability. She will be with the department from May 2010.
Professor Schmidt's Appointment at Wellcome
Professor Schmidt, who has been the key driving force behind the success and development of the History of Medicine at Kent, has recently been appointed by the Wellcome Trust's Board of Governors to the Medical History and Humanities Funding Committee. This appointment lasts for a period of three years, from 1 October 2009.
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In 2004, Professor Schmidt was awarded a Wellcome Trust project grant of around ₤200.000, and in 2005, he was instrumental in securing a prestigious Wellcome Trust University Award of around ₤220.000.
Under Professor Schmidt’s leadership, the School of History has recently advertised for a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in the History of Modern Medicine which is part of the School’s long-term strategy to invest and further develop excellence in research and teaching in medical history and the humanities.
Professor Smith receives international award
Professor Crosbie Smith (Professor of History of Science) and his co-author, Dr Anne Scott, were recently awarded the prestigious Abbott Payson Usher Prize for their article Trust in Providence: Building Confidence into the Cunard Line of Steamers.
The Prize is awarded by the US-based Society for the History of Technology to the author(s) of the best article published by the Society in the preceding three calendar years. The article was derived from his AHRC-funded ‘Ocean Steamship Project’ (2001-7) which received a grant of around £500,000.
This is Professor Smith’s third major international award. Professor Fincham, Head of the School, commented: ‘One of the School of History’s great strengths over the years has been in the history of science and technology, in which Crosbie Smith has presided over a team of innovative scholars with an international reputation for the quality and innovation of its writings’
Antony Beevor
Updated.On October 6, acclaimed military historian Antony Beevor launched the School of History's open seminar series with a talk entitled Playing Fast and Loose with History.
In his talk, Beevor challenged his audience on the dangers of 'faction creep' and 'counter-knowledge', before tackling questions from those in attendance.
Beevor holds an honorary degree from the University of Kent, and is perhaps best-known for his critically-acclaimed Stalingrad and Berlin - The Downfall. The Guardian recently praised him with '...single-handedly transforming the reputation of military history.'
Karl Brandt - Hitler's Doctor
Professor Ulf Schmidt's book, Karl Brandt. The Nazi Doctor. Medicine and Power in the Third Reich,(Continuum, 2007) has recently been published in a revised German edition as Hitlers Arzt - Karl Brandt: Medizin und Macht im Dritten Reich (Aufbau Verlag, Berlin, 2009).
This is the first full-scale biography of Karl Brandt, Hitler’s doctor, one of the most powerful figures of the Third Reich.
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Professor Schmidt's book tells the story of Brandt's rise to power and influence at the heart of Hitler’s inner sanctum of trusted servants and asks how a rational, highly cultured, young professional could become responsible for mass murder and criminal human experiments on a previously unimaginable scale?
In this riveting biography, Ulf Schmidt explores in detail that Brandt belonged to a generation of a young ‘expert élite’, who in the 1930s and 1940s were willing, and empowered, to support and conceive an oppressive, militarist and racist government policy, and ultimately turn its exterminatory potential into reality.
Professor Sir Ian Kershaw praised the book as follows: “Ulf Schmidt’s excellent biography of Karl Brandt, a significant, though hitherto remarkably little-known, member of Hitler’s entourage casts significant new light on how a cultured, intelligent and idealistic doctor could so fervently believe in the principles of Nazi inhumanity that down to his execution he saw nothing wrong in eliminating the sick and infirm in the interests of a more healthy Volkskörper”.
Steam, Sail and Science
On Friday 11 September The National Maritime Museum, in conjunction with the School of History's Centre for the Study of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM), will be hosting a one day symposium exploring the realtionship between naval history and the history of science and technology and new areas of research in Victorian and Edwardian maritime history.
More information can be found on the symposium's webpage.
News Archive
British Archaeolocial Association Open Lecture
On Saturday 18 July The British Archaeological Association hosted an open lecture at the University of Kent's Canterbury campus.
'St Anselm and the Visual Arts at Canterbury Cathedral, 1093-1109' was introduced by The Very Reverend Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury and presented by Professor T.A. Heslop of the University of East Anglia.
The lecture, the keynote address of the 2009 British Archaeological Association's annual conference, is the latest of several events that have been held throughout 2009 in celebration of the life and achievements of St Anslem to commemorate the 900th anniversary of his death.
Archbishop of Canterbury between 1093-1109, St Anselm is regarded as one of the most important theologians and devotional writers of the Middle Ages.
Karl Brandt - Hitler's Doctor
Professor Ulf Schmidt's book, Karl Brandt. The Nazi Doctor. Medicine and Power in the Third Reich,(Continuum, 2007) has recently been published in a revised German edition as Hitlers Arzt. Karl Brandt. Medizin und Macht im Dritten Reich (Aufbau Verlag, Berlin, 2009).
This is the first full-scale biography of Karl Brandt, Hitler’s doctor, one of the most powerful figures of the Third Reich. Professor Schmidt's book tells the story of Brandt's rise to power and influence at the heart of Hitler’s inner sanctum of trusted servants and asks how a rational, highly cultured, young professional could become responsible for mass murder and criminal human experiments on a previously unimaginable scale?
In this riveting biography, Ulf Schmidt explores in detail that Brandt belonged to a generation of a young ‘expert élite’, who in the 1930s and 1940s were willing, and empowered, to support and conceive an oppressive, militarist and racist government policy, and ultimately turn its exterminatory potential into reality.
Professor Sir Ian Kershaw praised the book as follows: “Ulf Schmidt’s excellent biography of Karl Brandt, a significant, though hitherto remarkably little-known, member of Hitler’s entourage casts significant new light on how a cultured, intelligent and idealistic doctor could so fervently believe in the principles of Nazi inhumanity that down to his execution he saw nothing wrong in eliminating the sick and infirm in the interests of a more healthy Volkskörper”.
Professor Welch Gives Keynote Address
On 26 June Professor David Welch gave a keynote address at the international conference From the Trenches to Versailles. War and Memory (1914-1919), sponsored by the Rectorate of Universidade Lisbon (Portugal). The title of his paper was ‘Images of the Hun. The Portrayal of the German Enemy in British Propaganda in World War One’.
In Translation
The School of History's Professor Ian F. W. Beckett is soon to have his seminal work The Great War: 1914-1918 (second edition) translated into Polish. Already highly acclaimed, the book will be published by Warsaw based publishers Wydawnictwo Ksiazka for 2,000 copies
The American West: Competing Visions
Dr Karen Jones and Dr John Wills of the School of History appeared on BBC Radio 4's flagship social science research programme Thinking Allowed to discuss their new book The American West: Competing Visions. The podcast containing their interview can now be downloaded from the Thinking Allowed website.
The Material World: Superorganisms
Dr Charlotte Sleigh, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science and co-director of the MSc in Science, Communication and Technology, will be appearing on Radio 4's weekly science magazine programme, The Material World, to discuss the latest research in the field of myrmecology.
The programme will be broadcast on Thursday 15th January at 4.30pm. The programme will also be available on the BBC iplayer and as a podcast.
The Big Questions
On Sunday 18 January, Dr George Conyne will be appearing on The Big Questions, a live, televised topical debate. Dr Conyne has regularly provided commentary for both regional and national media on issues affecting the US: particularly US Politics and the Supreme Court.
UK viewers can watch the programme on BBC1 at 10-11am, or for seven days after broadcast, using the BBC iPlayer.
News in Brief
- Professor Ulf Schmidt contributed to the new Wellcome Collection on War & Medicine. See Full Story.
- On 28th November Dr John Wills spoke at the Royal Society of Arts' Nuclear Forum.
New Publication
Dr David Potter, Reader in French History, has recently completed his latest book, Renaissance France at War: Armies, Culture and Society c.1480-1560. More information about Dr Potter's book can be found here.
RAE Success: School of History ranked No.2 in the country.
In the national Research Assessment Exercise (2008), results published 18th December, the School of History achieved an overall position of 2nd in the country (out of 83 History departments nationwide), equal with the Universities of Essex, Liverpool and Oxford. Kenneth Fincham, Head of School, comments: ''This is a marvellous achievement, and a tribute to the talent, diversity and energy of our fine team of historians. We have a rich and vibrant research culture here, supported by a lively postgraduate community, and it is gratifying that this has received external recognition."
Views on Current Events
Dr George Conyne writes on the significance of the US Election. See feature.
War and Medicine
Professor Ulf Schmidt has made a substantial contribution to War & Medicine, a major new exhibition running from 22 November to 15 February at the Wellcome Collection in London.
Nuclear Forum
On 28th November Dr John Wills spoke at the Royal Society of Arts' Nuclear Forum in London. The forum consisting of activists, artists and academics ran in conjunction with The Arts Catalyst and SCAN.
From Ants to Australia
On 7th October Dr Charlotte Sleigh co-presented a talk at the Ilkley Festival of Literature focusing on the complex relationship between humans and animals with particular reference to her book Ant(Reaktion, 2003). More information about the event can be found on the festival's own website.
On 9th October Professor David Welch gave the keynote address on 'The British Army and the Media' at the Australian Chief of Army's Military Conference in Canberra.
Open Lecture
On Monday 6th October the author and historian, Professor John Lukacs delivered an Open Lecture titled 'Churchill and Roosevelt' in the Brabourne Lecture Theatre, Keynes College.
In addition to the lecture Professor Lukacs began the School of History's 2008/2009 Open Research Seminar Series with a special seminar titled 'The Historian's Problem of Opinions and Sentiments' .
Keynote Lecture
Professor David Starkey CBE addressed the School of History on Tuesday 30th September to celebrate the start of the new academic year.
Before the lecture, 'Breaking Up: Britain and the Four Nations at the beginning of the 21st Century' eight students received Distinguished Achievement Prizes for academic excellence in the previous academic year.
'How the West was Lost'
19 June 2008
Dr Karen Jones appeared on Rich Hall's 'How the West was Lost' on BBC Four.
AHRC/ESRC Library of Congress Scholarship Award
10 June 2008
Don Leggett, postgraduate research student in the School of History's Centre for History of Science, Technology & Medicine, has been awarded a prestigious scholarship to study for three months at the Library of Congress in Washington. Funded by the AHRC and ESRC and worth £3500, the scholarship will enable Don to extend his PhD research from its current focus on the Victorian steam navy to the United States in the same period.
His supervisor, Professor Crosbie Smith, expressed delight at the news: "Don's work is at the leading edge of research in the cultural history of technology and takes maritime history further away from its traditional emphasis on great men and great battles".
In Search of Medieval Britain
17 May 2008
Dr Alixe Bovey, lecturer in Medieval History and co-director of the School of History's new History and Visual Culture degree, recently presented a series of programmes on BBC Four as part of the channel's 'Medieval Season'.
The series, In Search of Medieval Britain, covered the length and breadth of Great Britain using the 14th Century Gough Map, the oldest known surviving British road map.
The sixth and final programme of the series, West Country, was broadcast on Thursday 15 May at 7.30pm.
Award Winner
21 November 2007
Professor David Welch's book 'Cinema and the Swastika. The International Expansion of Third Reich Cinema' was awarded the prestigious Willy Haas Prize for the best book on the history of German cinema at the Hamburg Film Festival on 19 November.
The commendation by the judges can be read on the Cinefest website (in German).
Advisory Lecture
13 November 2007
Prof Mark Connelly will be giving an advisory talk to all History undergraduates on Wednesday 14 November in RLT1 at 2pm. This should be of particular interest to all students in their final year of study however all undergraduates are welcome to attend.
- The function of the National Student Survey (NSS) and the School of History's Staff Student Consultative Committee (SSCC).
- Graduate career paths and the value of a History degree in the job market.
- Further study at postgraduate level within the School of History.
History Society Ball
28 October 2007
The History Society at the University of Kent would like to invite staff and students to the inaugural History Society Ball (formal dress or historic costume) on the 3rd November in Darwin Conference Suite from 7pm to 11pm.
The evening will include a buffet and bar, a prize for the best dressed person and music played by live DJs throughout the night.
Tickets are available from the History Office (Rutherford N4.5) or from any History Society committee member at the cost of £10.
New Appointments
14 September 2007
Medievalist, Dr Helen Gittos arrives from University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She will be convening modules covering Medieval Europe and Anglo-Saxon England.
Africanist, Dr Giacomo Macola arrives from Cambridge. He will be convenor of our new Empire in Africa module.
Dr Peter Donaldson has been appointed to be the School of History's Student Support Officer. He has also been appointed as the department's Director of Part-Time Studies.