History Lab Summer Social

You are warmly invited to the History Lab summer social on Thursday 20th May 2010 at 7.30pm in the SAS common room. Please come along for free drinks and nibbles and catch up with other history postgrads. Non-member postgrads are welcome to come along too.

See the attached invitation for more details.

Simon Lambe (St Mary's UCL) 'The Tudor Monarchy and the Somerset gentry'

Simon's PhD is a study of the developments in the style of government under the early Tudor monarchs. On May 6, he gave a paper focusing on the Paulet family of Somerset, and particularly Sir Amias Paulet (c.1457-1538) and Sir Hugh Paulet (1532-1588). These two men fulfilled the duties of the county squire and gentleman while remaining as the eyes and ears of Tudor government.

In the questions and comments that followed the work of Helen Speight and Mary Robertson over the management by Thomas Cromwell of the southwestern government. Speight argues, contrary to Roberston, that it was beyond Cromwell's competence to 'manage' southwestern government in the manner she suggests. Simon stressed the success of the Paulet's in their roles as local governors and it was suggested that they were the exception in terms of their ability to maintain connections with local institutions and central government.

Simon's paper added to the historiography in its tackling of a county, and in its focus on gentry families rather then the nobility.

On 20 May, the History Lab postgraduate seminar will host a paper by Caroline Watkinson (Queen Mary, University of London) 'Exiled English Convents and the French Revolution'. This will be followed by the History Lab summer social event.

Early-Career Historians: Come and Join Us! Young History Workshop Project

An exciting opportunity has arisen for early-career historians (including doctoral students) to work with school students as ‘historian-mentors’ in a London-wide history project. Young History Workshop (YHW) is a strategic education project run by the Raphael Samuel History Centre* in collaboration with the Historical Association, and funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

YHW will involve students from eight state secondary schools in the Greater London area. The students will research, write and present historical projects of their choice relating to the broad theme of ‘Them and Us’. They will receive hands-on guidance at workshop sessions facilitated by at least one volunteer historian-mentor and the YHW Project Officer. Archive and museum visits will support and complement the students’ research, which will be presented at a day-long event (Young History Workshop Day) in March 2011.

YHW provides an excellent opportunity for academic historians to gain experience and skills in widening participation and public engagement, as well as forging collaborations with history teachers and workers in the archives and heritage sectors. The project will require a maximum of three school visits, an internet-based presence, and attendance at Young History Workshop Day.

For more information and/or to express an interest in taking part in this project, please contact Anna Gust, a.gust@ucl.ac.uk, before the end of May.

*The RSHC is a partnership between the University of East London, Birkbeck College, and Bishopsgate Institute. Visit www.raphael-samuel.org.uk