RHS News

281 new Fellows & Members elected to the Society

 

At its latest meeting on 24 September 2021, the RHS Council elected 123 Fellows, 87 Members and 71 Early Career Members, a total of 281 people newly associated with the Society. We welcome them all.

The majority of the new Fellows hold academic appointments at universities, specialising in a very wide range of fields; but also include government historians, broadcasters, film-makers, creative writers, biographers, public historians, curators, publishers, journalists and editors, and academic librarians. The Society is an international community of historians and our latest intake includes Fellows from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, South Korea, and the United States.

The new Members also have a wide variety of historical interests, including those employed in universities, and as school teachers, archivists, museum staff, and education officers – together with independent and community historians.

All those newly elected to the Fellowship and Membership bring a valuable range of expertise and experience that will help the Society to fulfil its objective of representing the diverse body of those engaged in historical scholarship.

New Fellows and Members are elected at regular intervals through the year. The current application round is open and runs to Monday 1 November 2021. Further details on RHS Fellowship and Membership categories, the benefits of membership, deadlines for applications in 2021, and how to apply, are available here.

 

New RHS Fellows, elected September 2021
  • David Abrutat
  • Ali Ansari
  • Jackson Armstrong
  • Priya Atwal
  • Michael Bachmann
  • David Ballantyne
  • Milinda Banerjee
  • Eleanor Barraclough
  • Duncan Barrett
  • Victoria Bates
  • Claire Battershill
  • Svenja Bethke
  • Mark Bryant
  • Hannah Burrows
  • Clarinda Calma
  • Richard Carr
  • Denis Casey
  • Baris Cayli Messina
  • Margaret Connolly
  • Raphael Cormack
  • Arunima Datta
  • Jonathan Davis
  • Max Deeg
  • Emlyn Dodd
  • Keith Dowen
  • Alison Downham Moore
  • Marianna Dudley
  • Michael Dwyer
  • Nicholas Evans
  • Catherine Feely
  • Jonathan Fennell
  • Laura Fernández-González
  • Mary Flannery
  • Kazuki Fujiyama
  • Michael J Geary
  • Ewan Gibbs
  • Mike Gibson
  • Oliver Godsmark
  • Matt Graham
  • Brett Greatley-Hirsch
  • Philippa Gregory
  • Mark Hailwood
  • Erika Hanna
  • James Harland
  • James Hegarty
  • Alison Hems
  • Rachel Herrmann
  • Michael Hope
  • Richard Hornsey
  • Jessica Hower
  • Thomas Hunt
  • Kristin Hussey
  • Michael Innes
  • Robert James
  • Greg Jenner
  • Richard Jones
  • Spencer Jones
  • Hilary Kalmbach
  • Kate Kennedy
  • Jasmine Kilburn-Toppin
  • Andy King
  • Claas Kirchhelle
  • Verena Krebs
  • Thomas Leahy
  • Alexandra Lee
  • Alison Light
  • Keith Lowe
  • Gaby Mahlberg
  • Javed Majeed
  • Sam Manning
  • Alberto Mingardi
  • Alex Mullen
  • Jacqueline Murray
  • Ulrike Müßig
  • Mark Nesbitt
  • Yewande Okuleye
  • Vincent O’Malley
  • Corinne Painter
  • Kiri Paramore
  • Kevin Passmore
  • Giovanni Patriarca
  • Tetyana Pavlush
  • Nicholas Perry
  • Giada Pizzoni
  • Eyal Poleg
  • William Pooley
  • David Price
  • Paul Rabbitts
  • Jennifer Redmond
  • Charles V. Reed
  • Bess Rhodes
  • Nicole Ribianszky
  • Rachel Rich
  • Jacqueline Riding
  • Katharina Rietzler
  • Daniel  Salisbury
  • Mark A. Sammut Sassi
  • Vikram Sampath
  • Heike Schmidt
  • Robert Skinner
  • Edmond Smith
  • John Spencer
  • Linda Sturtz
  • Warren Swain
  • Danae  Tankard
  • Melissa Terras
  • Marie-Cecile Thoral
  • Michael Tichelar
  • Thomas Tunstall Allcock
  • Giles Udy
  • Esther van Raamsdonk
  • Oisín Wall
  • Maurice Walsh
  • Wendy Webster
  • Jia Wei
  • Katherine Weikert
  • Hannah Whittaker
  • Manuela Williams
  • Clifford Williamson
  • David Wilson
  • Rachel Winchcombe
  • Wanda Wyporska
  • Lidia Luisa Zanetti Domingues

 

New RHS Members, elected September 2021
  • Samreen Ali
  • Mate Ambrus
  • Nathen Amin
  • Rachel Anderson
  • Timothy Barham
  • Katie Bennett
  • Edouard Beretti-Cahen
  • Donal Blaney
  • Julie Boulton
  • David Bridges
  • Samuel Broderick
  • Roger Brown
  • Andrew Buchholz
  • Mark Burrows
  • Vijay Chakravarty
  • Chienyuen Chen
  • Tim Coles
  • Juan Dávila
  • Charlie Day
  • Patricia de Jong
  • Harry De Paepe
  • Rose-Marie deNegri
  • Stuart Dewhurst
  • Caroline Flatekval
  • Michail Foustanos
  • Rosaria Franco
  • Elizabeth Gardner
  • Jose Gonsalves
  • Aimee Griles
  • Emma Haddon
  • Tom Hadman
  • Terra Han
  • Joanna Hardwick
  • Sean Harford
  • Louise  Heal-Beaumont
  • Richard Hefford-Hobbs
  • Elysia Heitmar
  • Elisabeth Herzog
  • Ann Higgins
  • Austin Hilton
  • David Holland
  • Christopher Ingham
  • Shahnawaz Islam
  • Jezreel James
  • Tracy Kennedy
  • Francesca Killoran
  • Keith Lawson
  • James Le Grice
  • Michael Leduc
  • Keith Magee
  • Rupali Mathur
  • Nanda Kumar Mayampurath
  • Alasdair McNeill
  • Nicholas Mihora
  • Dan Moorhouse
  • Borek Neskudla
  • Richard Nichols
  • Olga Nikonenko
  • Howard Norman-Taylor
  • Elodie Nowinski
  • Anthony O’Connor
  • Maria Ogborn
  • Levin Opiyo
  • Antonia Perna
  • Suzanne Phillips
  • Aikaterini-Iliana Rassia
  • Ghada Rifai
  • Lee Rippon
  • Darrell Rivers
  • Eduardo Rodrigues
  • James Roe
  • Lisa Search
  • Kate Shaw
  • Kenneth Shepherd
  • John Spencer
  • James Stanley
  • Jason Stephenson
  • Andrea Stokes
  • Laurence Thackwray
  • Janet Tyson
  • Robert Ukiah
  • Ian Uttley
  • Uttley Uttley
  • Hazel Vosper
  • Amy Wilson
  • Kevin Wyatt-Lown
  • Armin Yavari

 

New RHS Early Career Members, elected September 2021
  • Camilla Allen
  • Tristan Alphey
  • Molly Avery
  • Hayley Bassett
  • Orel Beilinson
  • Yacine Benhalima
  • Ellora Bennett
  • Lia Brazil
  • James Brocklesby
  • James Lawson Broun
  • Kathryn Bullen
  • Michelle Castelletti
  • Mark Cauchi
  • Nadine Chambers
  • Laura Doak
  • Thomas Eason
  • Jan Eijking
  • Chloe Emmott
  • Lucas Vinicius Erichsen da Rocha
  • Sarah Fry
  • Amanda Gavin
  • David Grealy
  • William Green
  • Eloise Grey
  • Kristin Hay
  • Catherine Healy
  • Megan Henvey
  • Tanya Higgins-Carey
  • Andy Holroyde
  • Purba Hossain
  • Mihai Hotea
  • Connor Huddlestone
  • Michala Hulme
  • Charlotte James Robertson
  • Naz Defne Kut
  • I. Maria Lopez
  • Kerry Love
  • Tobias Lunde
  • Prashant Maurya
  • Shaun McGuinness
  • Thomas McMurdo
  • Lindsay Middleton
  • Christopher Jason Moore de Torrealba
  • Kate Morris
  • Anna Muggeridge
  • Kathryn Mulcahey
  • Callum Murrell
  • Beth Parkes
  • Duffy Patrick Barry
  • Alison Pedley
  • Gale Pettifer
  • Sasha Rasmussen
  • Emily Rhodes
  • Suzanne Rowland
  • Rachael Scally
  • Michele Seah
  • George Severs
  • Mehdy Shaddel
  • Emily Sharp
  • Ana Struillou
  • Ebba Strutzenbladh
  • Samuel Teague
  • David Thomas
  • I. Gabriella Tigani Sava
  • Claire Turner
  • Rebecca Whiting
  • Tim Wingard
  • Julian Wood
  • Michael Wuk
  • Konstantinos Xypolytos
  • Xuduo Zhao

 

HEADER IMAGE: Fragmentary Plaque with a Crowd of Onlookers 1st cent BC–AD, India (Bengal), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, public domain

 

New RHS Councillors and other appointments

New appointments to the RHS Council

The Society is very pleased to announce three new members of its Council, following the conclusion of this year’s elections. The new councillors elected by the Fellowship are Dr Stefan Bauer (King’s College, London), Professor Caitriona Beaumont (London South Bank University) and Dr Emilie Murphy (University of York). Stefan, Caitriona and Emilie will begin as RHS Councillors from January 2022. Thank you to all those who stood for election this year; to those who supported their candidacies; and all who participated in the election.

Dr Stefan Bauer is Lecturer in Early Modern World History at King’s College, London.

“My sincere thanks to those who have supported me in this election. I will be honoured to serve on the Council, where I will be pleased to collaborate with the Trustees and the central team, not only bringing in my own ideas, but also representing the ideas of colleagues and others who care about the roles of History in research, education and public discourse. I am particularly interested in the Society’s international collaborations and in its editorial projects, with the Transactions currently extending its scale and scope.”

Professor Caitriona Beaumont is Professor of History and Director of Research at London South Bank University.

“Thank you, Royal Historical Society Fellows, for electing me to the Society’s Council. Over the next four years I will work to promote the study of history across UK HE, particularly in post 92s, whether as stand-alone degrees or embedded as part of other courses. I will also prioritise the expansion of support available to history academics, including ECRs, and colleagues with caring responsibilities and/or disabilities, so that the everyday experience of being a historian is enhanced.”

Dr Emilie Murphy is Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of York.

“Thank you so much to everyone that voted for me, I am delighted that so many of you also want to see wider participation within our discipline and change within our departments. I am excited about the contribution I can make to the advocacy work of the RHS and I hope to use this platform to fight more effectively against exploitative and discriminatory short-term contracts. As promised, I will also campaign for Members of the RHS to have a voice in council to enfranchise the next generation.”

 

Secretary for Professional Engagement, RHS Council

We are also very pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Julian Wright (Northumbria University) as the Society’s Secretary for Professional Engagement, following our recent application round for this new position. Julian will join the Council from January 2022 as an Officer of the Society, with responsibility for developing our programme of training, advice and career development for historians.

Professor Julian Wright is a historian of modern Europe at Northumbria University.

“‘Connections’ is the theme that will underpin my work as Secretary for Professional Engagement: connecting historians through networks of mutual support and development; connecting regional communities of historians; building connections to other disciplines and professions; making connections between ideas and research come to life in historians’ careers. I’m really excited to be working with the Society to bring these connections to life and joining the council at this exciting stage of the Society’s development.”

 

RHS / IHR Research Fellows, 2021-22

It is a great pleasure to introduce and welcome this year’s RHS Centenary and Marshall Fellows—Dan Armstrong (St Andrews), Humaira Chowdhury (Cambridge), Sonali Dhanpal (Newcastle) and Petros Spanou (Oxford)—who will complete their doctoral research in 2021-22. The Fellowships are held in association with the Institute of Historical Research, and we look forward to working with Dan, Humaira, Sonali and Petros as they pursue their research in the coming year.

Dan Armstrong (St Andrews) for PhD research on ‘Anglo-Papal Relations, c.1066-c.1135’.

Dan’s Centenary Fellowship at the RHS and IHR runs from October 2021 to March 2022.

 

Humaira Chowdhury (Cambridge) for PhD research on the social and economic history of Muslim tailors (darzis) in Calcutta, 1947-67.

Humaira’s Marshall Fellowship at the RHS and IHR runs from October 2021 to March 2022.

 

Sonali Dhanpal (Newcastle) for PhD research on late-19th and early 20th-century Bangalore, for a PhD entitled ‘Contested Bangalore: Caste, colonial and princely politics’.

Sonali’s Marshall Fellowship at the RHS and IHR runs from October 2021 to March 2022.

 

Petros Spanou (Oxford) for PhD research on ‘The Crimean moment and crucible: just war, principles of peace and debates in Victorian wartime thought and culture, 1854-1856’.

Petros’s Centenary Fellowship at the RHS and IHR runs from January to June 2022.

The RHS Marshall Fellowship is fully funded by a charitable donation from a former RHS President, Professor Peter Marshall, to whom we are very grateful for his generosity. The Society has recently set up a Support Us page. All donations, large and small, are reserved to support historians at the start of their careers and are very gratefully received.

 

Other ways to participate in the Society’s work

There are currently several calls for Society Fellows to take part in the Society’s programme of activities:

Future calls for participation in the Society’s work will appear on the News page and Twitter: @RoyalHistSoc.

 

RHS reviews UKRI announcement on Open Access

On 6 August, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) published its long-awaited report on its future approach to Open Access publishing.

UKRI’s Report on Open Access protocols sets out its policy for the future accessibility of research, as funded by its research councils, and published in journal articles, monographs and edited collections.

In an extended RHS blog post, Society officers past and present (Margot Finn, Richard Fisher, Emma Griffin and Peter Mandler) review UKRI’s policy announcement: setting out its implications for historians, and — equally importantly — what remains unknown at this stage.

UKRI is the overarching body responsible for government research strategy and funding for universities in the UK. It brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, including the Arts and Humanities Research Council  (AHRC) — along with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) — with which many historians will be most familiar as a source of PhD and grant funding.

Read the blog post >

 

Sampler, 1828, detail

Sampler, Kent, England, (1828, detail), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, public domain

282 new Fellows & Members elected to the Society

At its meeting on 2 July 2021 the RHS Council elected 150 Fellows, 56 Members, and 76 Early Career Members, a total of 282 people newly associated with the Society.

The majority of the new Fellows hold academic appointments at universities, specialising in a very wide range of fields; but also include broadcasters, film-makers, public historians, curators, publishers, journalists and editors, and academic librarians. The new Members also have a wide variety of historical interests, including those employed in universities, and as school teachers, archivists, museum staff, and education officers – together with independent and community historians.

All those newly elected to the Fellowship and Membership bring a valuable range of expertise and experience that will help the Society to fulfil its objective of representing the diverse body of those engaged in historical scholarship.

New Fellows and Members are elected at regular intervals through the year. The current application round is open and runs to Monday 6 September 2021. Further details on RHS Fellowship and Membership categories, the benefits of membership, deadlines for applications in 2021, and how to apply, are available here.

 

New RHS Fellows, elected July 2021
  • Robbie Aitken
  • Marc Alexander
  • Ian Armour
  • Christopher Ash
  • Emma Aston
  • Revel Barker
  • Alison Beach
  • Hugh Beattie
  • Brad Beaven
  • Stephen Bennett
  • Egemen Bezci
  • Thomas Bishop
  • Thomas Breimaier
  • Thomas Brodie
  • Ugo Bruschi
  • Nathan Cardon
  • Claire Chatterton
  • David Churchill
  • Roland Clark
  • Susan Cohen
  • Paul Corner
  • Tony Craig
  • Nicholas Crane
  • Alice Crossley
  • Jessica Dalton
  • Christina de Bellaigue
  • Joanna de Groot
  • Caroline Derry
  • Malcolm Dick
  • Steven Dieter
  • Matthew Dimmock
  • Celia Donert
  • Dennis Duncan
  • Dee Dyas
  • Serena Dyer
  • Hormoz Ebrahimnejad
  • Derek Elliott
  • Laura Evans
  • Michael Fass
  • Ilaria Favretto
  • Catherine Ferguson
  • Mark Finney
  • Robert Fletcher
  • Chris Fuller
  • David Gange
  • Sebastian Gehrig
  • Chris Godden
  • Wilko Graf von Hardenberg
  • David Greenwood
  • Hannah Greig
  • Sarah Gristwood
  • Jérôme Grosclaude
  • Armin Gruenbacher
  • Anna Hajkova
  • Maria Hayward
  • Matthew Heaslip
  • William Hern
  • Beatrice Heuser
  • Steve Hewitt
  • Tracey Hill
  • Julia Hillner
  • Wendy Holden
  • Ian Horwood
  • Jon Howlett
  • Katja Hoyer
  • David R. M. Irving
  • Dan Jones
  • Laura Kalas
  • Angus Konstam
  • Giada Lagana
  • Craig Lambert
  • Sabine Lee
  • Ulrich Lehner
  • Alan Lester
  • James Lockhart
  • José Antonio López Sabatel
  • Gary Love
  • Mathew Lyons
  • Shivan Mahendrarajah
  • Jatinder Mann
  • Giuseppe Marcocci
  • Naomi Matsumoto
  • Matthew Lynn McDowell
  • Alexander Medcalf
  • Tommaso Milani
  • Sarah Miller-Davenport
  • Thomas Mills
  • Giles Milton
  • Saurabh Mishra
  • Katharine Mitchell
  • Shaul Mitelpunkt
  • Simon Moody
  • Neville Morley
  • Aislinn Muller
  • John Munro
  • Neil Murphy
  • Patricia Murrieta-Flores
  • Dave Musgrove
  • Kathleen Neal
  • Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid
  • Rafaelle Nicholson
  • Philip Norrie
  • Shane  O’Rourke
  • Ed Owens
  • Ian Patel
  • Naomi Paxton
  • Andy Pearce
  • Andrew Popp
  • Linda Porter
  • William Purkis
  • Alex Renton
  • Carol Richardson
  • Klaus Richter
  • Daniel  Robinson
  • Katharina Rowold
  • Dominic Sandbrook
  • Samita Sen
  • Hugo Service
  • Stephanie Seul
  • Shalini Sharma
  • John Singleton
  • Asaf Siniver
  • Clare Siviter-Groschwald
  • Matthew Smith
  • Keith Somerville
  • Beth Spacey
  • David Stack
  • Matthew Stibbe
  • Paul Stock
  • Nicola Tallis
  • Michael Taylor
  • Frank Uekötter
  • Ted Vallance
  • David Veevers
  • Lena Wahlgren-Smith
  • Kevin Waite
  • Fionnuala Walsh
  • Tosh Warwick
  • Thomas Waters
  • Peter Webster
  • David Weekes
  • Sam Wetherell
  • Emma Wilby
  • Stephen Wilkinson
  • Helen Williams
  • Kate Williams
  • Zbigniew Wojnowski
  • Alexander Wragge-Morley
  • Simon Yarrow
  • Henry Yeomans

 

New RHS Members, elected July 2021
  • Meshal Alenezi
  • Paul Allonby
  • Ann-Kathrin Barfuß
  • Del Barrett
  • Sue Berry
  • Michael Bevel
  • Jacqueline Bollmann
  • Quinn Bradlee
  • Birgitte Breemerkamp
  • Patrick Cook
  • Bob Couttie
  • Lauren Davies
  • Vincenzo De Meulenaere
  • John Deane-O’Keeffe
  • Martin Deeb
  • Adrian Defta
  • Alexander Dua
  • Nicholas Ellis
  • Lynsey Ford
  • Shweta George
  • Jose Gonsalves
  • Steven Haines
  • David Matthew Harper
  • Neil Harrison
  • Andrew Henderson
  • Mumtaz Iqbal
  • Brian Izzard
  • Takao Kawanishi
  • Miroslava Kleckova
  • Henrik Kostow
  • Florian Kupfer
  • Neha Lal
  • Katie Lissamore
  • Alice Loxton
  • Stuart Major
  • Vicky Manolopoulou
  • Karen McAulay
  • Joanne McIntosh
  • Louise Moon
  • Peter Morgan
  • Nathan Morley
  • Adenike Ogunkoya
  • Phil Orwin
  • Philip Parker
  • Olivia Blythe Goulet Paterson
  • Tony Pratt
  • Karen Redmond
  • Jeremy Rodriguez
  • Harvey Ross
  • Salman Siddiqui
  • Peter Smith
  • Steven Smith
  • Roy Stedall-Humphryes
  • Mike Stevenson
  • Alexander Walsh
  • Graham Woodall

 

New RHS Early Career Members, elected July 2021
  • Peter Aiken
  • William Baker
  • Fiona   Banham
  • Nicholas Barone
  • Fay Braybrooke
  • Andrew Carter
  • Douglas Chapman
  • Rachel Clamp
  • Andrew Connell
  • Beth Cowen
  • Joseph Crozier
  • Angela Davies
  • Susie Deedigan
  • Trude Dijkstra
  • Paige Emerick
  • David Foster
  • Pauline Gardiner
  • Charlotte Gauthier
  • Daniella Gonzalez
  • Natalie Grace
  • Rob Granger
  • Fraser Gray
  • Stephen Griffin
  • Catherine-Rose Hailstone
  • Lily Hawker-Yates
  • Giulia Iannuzzi
  • Polina Ignatova
  • Claire Jackson
  • Jonathan Jackson
  • Jamie Jenkins
  • Li Jiang
  • Bethan Johnson
  • Aidan Jones
  • Ian Jones
  • Rhian Jones
  • William Jones
  • Saoirse Laaraichi
  • Rosanagh Mack
  • Sebastian Majstorovic
  • Marta Manzanares Mileo
  • Nenad Markovic
  • John Marshall
  • Avaro Maylis
  • Patrick McGhee
  • Claire McNulty
  • Kiran Mehta
  • William Mitchell
  • Joan Passey
  • Joseph Puchner
  • Emily Quigley
  • Jay Rees
  • Michael Reeve
  • Darren Reid
  • Isabel Robinson
  • Laura Robson-Mainwaring
  • Linda Ross
  • Bethany Rowley
  • David Saunders
  • Florence Scott
  • Hana Sleiman
  • Chase Smith
  • Frederick Smith
  • Amy Solomons
  • Marta Starostina
  • Derek Taylor
  • Ezra Teboul
  • Billie-Gina Thomason
  • Cecilia Varuzza
  • Helbert Velilla-Jiménez
  • Mrinalini Venkateswaran
  • Ben White
  • James Wilson
  • Matthew Woolgar
  • Hannah Yoken
  • Tom Young
  • Shijia Yu

 

 

RHS Awards 2021: winners and runners-up announced

Via a video ceremony on Friday 23 July, the Royal Historical Society announced its Publication, Teaching and Fellowship Awards for 2021.

The ceremony also included the Society’s joint fellowships with the Institute of Historical Research, along with the annual IHR prizes.

The RHS Awards are an opportunity to recognise and celebrate just some of the excellent work in research, publishing and teaching undertaken by historians in 2020-21. It’s also a chance to thank all those who’ve contributed to historical understanding through research, writing and teaching — in very challenging circumstances — during 2020-21.

 

AWARD CEREMONY VIDEO

The 2021 Awards ceremony is available to watch here.

 

2021 WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP: IN FULL

Full details of all the 2021 Awards, their winners, runners-up and judges’ citations are available here.

 

ABOUT THE RHS AND IHR AWARDS

The RHS Awards include prizes for first journal articles (the David Berry and Alexander Prizes); first monographs (the Gladstone and Whitfield Prizes); outstanding Master’s dissertations (the Rees Davies Prize, named for one of Society’s former Presidents); and excellence in university teaching of History (the Jinty Nelson and RHS Innovation Awards, the former named for the Society’s first female President).

The Awards also include the annual prizes of the Institute of Historical Research: the Pollard and Neale Prizes (for best seminar paper and essay on early modern Britain, respectively); and the RHS / IHR Centenary and Marshall Fellowships to support doctoral research in History — the latter generously funded by Professor P.J. Marshall, another former RHS President).

Thank you to everyone who took submitted entries to this year’s awards and to our judges from with the RHS, IHR and universities across the UK.

Thanks also to all who contributed to the video — especially our host for the evening, Dr Andrew Smith (University of Chichester and RHS Hon. Director of Communications), and our video editor, Amelia Lampitt.

 

 

 

 

New RHS Fellows & Members – elected in May 2021

At its meeting on 7 May 2021 the RHS Council elected 99 Fellows, 42 Members, and 72 Early Career Members, a total of 213 people newly associated with the Society.

The majority of the new Fellows hold academic appointments at universities, specializing in a very wide range of fields; but also include broadcasters, curators, publishers and academic librarians. The new Members also have a wide variety of historical interests, including those employed in universities, and as school teachers, archivists, museum staff – together with independent and community historians.

All those newly elected to the Fellowship and Membership bring a valuable range of expertise and experience that will help the Society to fulfil its objective of representing the diverse body of those engaged in historical scholarship.

New Fellows and Members are elected at regular intervals through the year. The current application round is open and runs to Monday 16 August 2021. Further details on RHS Fellowship and Membership categories, the benefits of membership, deadlines for applications in 2021, and how to apply, are available here.

Fellowship

  • Nicholas Amor
  • Julie Anderson
  • Geoff Andrews
  • Catharine Arnold
  • Karen Bartlett
  • Alison Baxter
  • Carol Beardmore
  • Adam Begley
  • Sheila Blackburn
  • Tracy Borman
  • Stuart Bradley
  • Tancred Bradshaw
  • Emily Bridger
  • Ting Chang
  • Natalya Chernyshova
  • Jessica Cox
  • Eugene Coyle
  • Malcolm Craig
  • Emily Cuming
  • Luke Daly-Groves
  • Gillian Darley
  • Matthew D’Auria
  • Saul David
  • Albert Warren Dockter
  • Patricia Fara
  • Alison Fell
  • Austin Fisher
  • Tanya Fitzgerald
  • Judith Flanders
  • Roy Flechner
  • Peter Galloway
  • Erika Graham-Goering
  • Annie Gray
  • Thomas Green
  • Georgina Green
  • Eilish Gregory
  • Onni Gust
  • Lawrence Hatter
  • Sean Heath
  • Matthew Hefferan
  • Stephen Hodkinson
  • Tom Holland
  • Catherine Holmes
  • Joseph Hone
  • Katja Hoyer
  • Cathy Hunt
  • Claire Jowitt
  • Josephine Kane
  • Matthew Kerry
  • Jagjeet Lally
  • Charles Lawrence
  • Alexander Lee
  • Andrew Lycett
  • Giles MacDonogh
  • Iain MacGregor
  • Manon Mathias
  • Matthew Lynn McDowell
  • Amanda McVitty
  • Hilary Morris
  • Conor Morrissey
  • John Moyle
  • Emilie Murphy
  • Julianne Nyhan
  • Marius Ostrowski
  • Richard Ovenden
  • Ilan Pappe
  • Sami Pinarbasi
  • Christopher Powell
  • Janina Ramirez
  • Helen Rappaport
  • L. M. Ratnapalan
  • Jeremy Rich
  • Jane Ridley
  • Jane Robinson
  • James Rodgers
  • Rochelle Rowe
  • Tim Satterthwaite
  • Max Skjönsberg
  • Angel Smith
  • Francis Spufford
  • Paul Stock
  • Trevor Stone
  • Julie-Marie Strange
  • Zoe Strimpel
  • Liam Temple
  • Mark Thompson
  • Jacqui Turner
  • Maiken Umbach
  • Patrick Wallis
  • Sarah Ward Clavier
  • Sethina Watson
  • Clive Webb
  • Julie Wheelwright
  • Sue Wilkes
  • Sarah Wise
  • Christian Wolmar
  • John Wood
  • Julian Woodford
  • Barbara Zanchetta

Membership

  • Albab Akanda
  • Rob Albery
  • Abigail Ballantyne
  • Donald Bissett
  • Joseph Black
  • Philip Booth
  • Michael Carter-Sinclair
  • Alison J. Clarke
  • Marian Gwyn
  • Mark Hillier
  • Christopher Hollings
  • Chloe Ireton
  • David Isserman
  • Ellis Keeber
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  • Amanda Payne
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  • Neil Smith
  • Haig Smith
  • Shantel Smith
  • David Snape
  • Uwe Phillip Strauss
  • James Strong
  • Terry Tastard
  • Rachael Whitbread
  • Mengzhen Yue

Early Career Membership

  • Aaron Ackerley
  • Daniel Adamson
  • Dewi Alter
  • Lee Arnott
  • Christopher Bahl
  • Jonathan Best
  • Priyank Bharati
  • Mattin Biglari
  • Gregory Billam
  • Gabriele Bonomelli
  • Christopher Booth
  • Joseph Buscemi
  • Matthew Coulter
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  • Katherine Davies
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RHS statement on the recent closure of UK History departments

The Royal Historical Society (RHS) is deeply concerned to have heard of plans to end History teaching at four universities in the past year (the University of Sunderland, Aston University, London South Bank University and Kingston University). And whilst we are heartened to hear that History at Aston has now been reprieved, we are nonetheless concerned about the vulnerability of History degrees and departments in universities that serve predominantly first-generation students from low-participation backgrounds, and, in some cases, a high proportion of BAME students. Post-92 institutions have relatively large numbers of local and commuting students. It is well understood that many of those who commute to their local university do so precisely because they lack the means to study at a more distant institution.

The closure of History degrees in post-92 institutions, therefore, is not a simple matter of the consolidation of History provision. It also involves the removal of the opportunity to study History as a degree subject from students of a particular demographic. This is bad enough. However, when proposals go further – with historical teaching and training removed from related degree options, or when History staff are not offered meaningful redeployment – then the losses to student choice, and of specialist skills and livelihoods, are all the more serious and damaging.

Recent moves to close History courses and departments occur against a backdrop in which degrees are increasingly ranked and valued according to graduate earnings. The Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, has recently hit out against ’dead-end courses’ that leave young people ‘with nothing but debt’. According to this logic, History, along with some other humanities subjects, stands accused of being bad value for money – not only for individual students, but also for the taxpayer who will end up footing the bill.

Yet the suggestion that a History degree is poor value or of limited use is simply not supported by the evidence. A History degree teaches all the skills that employers want, including independent, critical thinking and advanced writing, and this is reflected in the graduate employment market.

The British Academy’s recent report ‘Qualified for the Future’ (2020) shows that employment levels are identical for STEM and AHSS degrees. Studies by the Institute for Fiscal Studies conclude that, once controls have been made for socio-economic background, the differences between returns to specific subjects are not large. The 2020 Lifetime Earnings Study likewise reveals relatively few differences in earnings across subjects for either men or women (with History in the middle for both), and – once again – that an individual’s social background matters more than subject. Given the existence of robust evidence for the value of History degrees – both for their owners and for employers – it is far from clear why History is being included in arguments around value for money and graduate prospects.

More importantly, however, the RHS rejects the current terms of this debate, in which graduate salaries have been elevated as the most significant – or even the sole – measure of the value of a university education. It is our position that History serves a social good that goes beyond the monetary benefit to the individual. History provides the intellectual means for understanding the contemporary world. It is vital for the health and breadth of our civic culture, and our evolving sense of national self-understanding in all its nuance and complexity. Equally, the historians who teach these skills, across all kinds of university, are fully aware of the importance of relevance, innovation and public engagement in their work, and of the opportunity these present to better integrate universities within local communities.

High-quality research and teaching in History is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy and an informed, tolerant citizenry. We need this – just as we need the specialists to teach and promote historical awareness. The Royal Historical Society works for History and historians. We will therefore continue to advocate for History: at all kinds of institutions all across the country.

The President, Vice-Presidents, and Council of the Royal Historical Society

 

RHS Gladstone Prize logo

RHS Gladstone Book Prize, 2021 shortlist announced

The eight shortlisted titles for this year’s RHS Gladstone Prize have been announced. The Prize offers £1,000 to the author of a first work not primarily related to British or Irish history.

The 2021 shortlist recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of eight excellent history monographs published in 2020.

 

  • Princely Power in Late Medieval France: Jeanne de Penthièvre and the War for Brittany  by Erika Graham-Goering (Cambridge University Press)
  • A Commerce of Knowledge: Trade, Religion, and Scholarship between England and the Ottoman Empire, 1600-1760  by Simon Mills (Oxford University Press)
  • Revolutionary Pasts: Communist Internationalism in Colonial India  by Ali Raza (Cambridge University Press)
  • The Purchase of the Past: Collecting Culture in Post-Revolutionary Paris, c.1790–1890  by Tom Stammers (Cambridge University Press)
  • Local Lives, Parallel Histories: Villagers and Everyday Life in the Divided Germany  by Marcel Thomas (Oxford University Press)
  • The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600–1750  by David Veevers (Oxford University Press)
  • On Hospitals: Welfare, Law, and Christianity in Western Europe, 400-1320  by Sethina Watson (Oxford University Press)
  • Ishikawa Sanshirō’s Geographical Imagination  by Nadine Willems (Leiden University Press)

 

This year, as in past competitions, the Gladstone Prize has attracted an outstanding range of submissions on the Atlantic World, British imperial, and trans-national contexts. The field was so strong that the committee shortlisted eight first monographs, in recognition of their originality, rigorous research, and vigorous contribution to past and current debates

 – Professor Barbara Bombi, Gladstone Prize Committee Chair

 

The winner of the 2021 RHS Gladstone Prize will be announced in July, together with the winner of the RHS Whitfield Prize 2021, for a first book in the field of British and Irish history.

About the RHS Gladstone Prize and its previous winners, 1997-2000.

 

 

RHS Whitfield Book Prize, 2021 shortlist announced

The six shortlisted titles for this year’s RHS Whitfield Prize have been announced. The Prize offers £1,000 to the author of a work of British or Irish history.

The 2021 shortlist recognises the scholarly contribution and quality of six excellent history monographs published in 2020.

 

  • England’s Northern Frontier: Conflict and Local Society in the Fifteenth-Century Scottish Marches  by Jackson W. Armstrong (Cambridge University Press)
  • History and the Written Word: Documents, Literacy, and Language in the Age of the Angevins  by Henry Bainton (University of Pennsylvania Press)
  • Masculinity and Danger on the Eighteenth-Century Grand Tour  by Sarah Goldsmith (University of London Press)
  • The Intelligence War against the IRA  by Thomas Leahy (Cambridge University Press)
  • Irish Women and the Great War  by Fionnuala Walsh  (Cambridge University Press)
  • The Making of an Imperial Polity: Civility and America in the Jacobean Metropolis  by Lauren Working (Cambridge University Press)

 

Once again, the Whitfield Prize competition attracted a large number of excellent entries, presenting the judges with something of an embarrassment of riches. Engagingly written, compellingly argued and deeply researched, the six shortlisted books demonstrate the vibrancy and intellectual ambition of today’s work on British and Irish history.

 – Professor Paul Readman, Whitfield Prize Committee Chair

 

The winner of the 2021 RHS Whitfield Prize will be announced in July, together with the winner of the RHS Gladstone Prize 2021, for a first book not primarily related to the history of Britain and Ireland.

About the RHS Whitfield Prize and its previous winners, 1977-2020.

 

RHS President joins historians in commenting on department closures

Royal Historical Society President, Emma Griffin, has joined fellow historians in raising concerns over plans to close History departments at several UK universities. The proposals risk History becoming an elite subject unavailable to selected students, at a time when History and historical awareness is needed more than ever.

Emma Griffin’s comments (reproduced below) appear alongside those of Professors Kate Williams and Sir Richard Evans among others in an article for the Guardian (1 May 2021): ‘Studying history should not be only for the elite, say academics’.

***

‘Emma Griffin, the president of the Royal Historical Society and professor of modern British history at the University of East Anglia, was anxious that her degree, which she said was very accessible and produced “rounded” graduates, must not become the preserve of the middle classes. “For reasons of cost, many students need to study at their local university. Understanding our own past shouldn’t be a luxury pursuit for the privileged few, and we think that everyone should have a history option.”

Griffin warned that more history closures are already on the horizon. “There are more in discussion, and there are academics at other universities who feel their positions are threatened.”

She said the removal of the cap on student numbers, allowing elite universities to expand, made the demise of smaller history departments in less prominent universities “inevitable”. “These aren’t blips or unfortunate mishaps, it is the government’s policy working as it was designed to,” she said.

Unlike subjects with expensive kit or laboratories, expanding a subject like history is a relatively cheap way for a successful university to increase its income from £9,250 a year fees. But Griffin said that cramming more students in has negative effects on the degree. “A history department cannot suddenly absorb lots more students without an impact on quality. Universities won’t employ new permanent teaching staff for a trend that might prove temporary, so inevitably you just get a casualised workforce managing the extra teaching workload, as well as a lot of stress and overwork amongst the existing staff.”’