On Monday 11 September, members of the Society’s Council visited colleagues at the universities of Christ Church Canterbury and Kent. The Visit is the latest in this autumn’s series of meetings with historians at universities across the UK.

The day included a panel discussion on ‘Surviving and thriving in a history department today’, with the RHS President Emma Griffin and faculty members and early career historians from Christ Church Canterbury and Kent. The discussion focused on challenges facing the profession, potential new directions for teaching and research, advocacy, and the role of the Royal Historical Society in supporting historians and the discipline.

This was followed by a public lecture by Professor William Pettigrew (Lancaster) on his current research on the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa, an often-forgotten founder of England’s contribution to the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people in the 1660s. Our thanks to William; our panellists, the co-organisers of the Visit at Christ Church and Kent; and all those who attended. The recording and abstract of William’s lecture is available here.

Forthcoming Visits and sponsored lectures

Visits are an opportunity for the Society’s Council members and staff to meet with historians. Visits also include an RHS sponsored lecture by a guest lecturer. Our next Visit (Monday 18 September) is to the Centre for History, University of the Highlands and Islands, Dornoch, which includes a public lecture by Lucy Noakes (Essex)–‘Histories, communities and feelings in the centenary of the First World War’–which all are welcome to attend, in person or online.

This is followed, on Monday 16 October, with a Visit to the University of Hertfordshire, including a lecture–‘Naming and Shaming? Telling Bad Bridget Stories’–with Elaine Farrell (Queen’s University Belfast) and Leanne McCormick (Ulster).

Further Visits, to the universities of York St John, York and Brunel, take place in early 2024.