Explore our expertise

Professor of Modern European History, he is an expert in the coffee and hospitality industries and has worked with many companies and high profile brands in this sector.

Read more on Professor Jonathan Morris.

Peter D'Sena is a Lecturer in History at the University of Hertfordshire where he teaches Public History and English Heritage.  He has extensive experience of developing and managing partnerships for placements that develop students' academic, professional and personal attributes.

In 2013, the Historical Association awarded him with an honorary fellowship for his services to history and history education.

Professor of Social History and co-founder of the University's Heritage Hub. He has considerable experience of creating public engagement activities and community partnerships around the social, cultural and commercial value of heritage.

He also founded the University's Heritage i-Teams, which trains students to work with businesses and organisations to explore the potential of their heritage.

Professor of Design History and Director of DHeritage, the Professional Doctorate in Heritage is an expert in the history of design, marketing and mediation of household goods; she has worked with manufacturers and retailers in the UK and Europe.

Read more on Professor Grace Lees-Maffei.

Dr Sue M. Davies   s.davies23@herts.ac.uk

Sue is a Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire’s Business School with a special interest in the management on non-profit organisations. Before joining the University in 2021 she worked in the heritage sector for several decades.  As a curator, a manager, and a museum director she has developed and delivered a range of projects. These include local history ones as the Museum Development Officer for Hertfordshire, setting up the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre and managing the UK wide Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (UOSH) project led by the British Library.  Her non-executive experience includes five years as a trustee of the National Trust and sitting on decision making committees for the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Her PhD explored the co-production of temporary exhibitions in museums and her current academic research focuses on the heritage sector.  She is the Principal Investigator for an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project, Performance indicators, motivation, and productivity: a case study in the UK’s non-profit cultural heritage sector. She is also working on HARVEST a co-produced project involving students and staff from the University of Hertfordshire and volunteers from Three Rivers Museum.  The project is investigating a remarkable collection of historic papers from a farm in Hertfordshire to discover lessons on sustainability for the 21st century. HARVEST a funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Heritage Co-Production scheme, administered by the University of Hertfordshire.

Sue is interested in research projects that use historical collections and have practical applications, especially ones around women in business and food history.