History
RAE 2008 - the results
See how our history research scored in the Research and Assessment Exercise 2008.
Research leader:
Professor Jonathan Morris
The History group at Hertfordshire was recognised as an internationally important centre for historical research in the last RAE where it was awarded a ‘5’ rating and this has been reconfirmed in the 2008 RAE when 100 per cent of its research was judged to be at international quality levels with 25 per cent world-leading.
We share a strong commitment to research into social history and the communication of this to the broadest possible audience.
The group has proved highly successful at generating peer-reviewed research income from bodies such as the AHRC, Heritage Lottery Fund, ESRC and the Leverhulme Trust.
Over £2.8 million has been awarded to projects involving group members since 2001, with over £1.7 million of this coming direct to UH itself.
Through a series of strategic appointments, the group has developed three main research concentrations bringing together researchers whose work complements each other, and who actively collaborate in planning new research initiatives.
The three concentrations are:
18th Century England
(Tim Hitchcock, Sarah Lloyd, John Styles, Anne Murphy, Katrina Navickas)
Analyse the experience of plebeian men and women during the long 18th Century, with particular focus on material culture and the history of London.
We are committed to using the web to provide access for all to crucial historical sources.
Projects housed in this cluster include the award-winning Old Bailey Online and London Lives.
Regional and Rural British History
(Owen Davies, Nigel Goose, Alan Thomson, Katrina Navickas)
Explore the experience of regional and rural societies across four centuries with particular emphasis on:
- demography
- landscape
- popular politics
- legal structures
- popular beliefs
The cluster includes the Centre for Regional and Local History which provides leadership to the community of local historians in the county.
Contemporary History
(Helen Boak, Tony Morris, Tony Shaw)
Focus on issues of consumption, leisure and daily life, in fields such as food, film, gender and sport.
There is a particular emphasis on transnational issues including historians of:
- Britain
- Germany
- Italy
- the USA.
This group hosts the research project The Cappuccino Conquests.
Public History
(Christine Garwood, Alix Green, Sarah Lloyd, Andrew Green)
We encourage and research links between academic history and:
- the public
- social and political policy
- the heritage industry
We also build links with other disciplines and institutions through the Heritage Hub.