Rebuilding the universities after the Great War

Dr Sarah Hellawell, with Dr Georgina Brewis (UCL) and Dr Daniel Laqua (Northumbria), has published an article in The Journal of the Historical Association which examines a transformative moment in the history of British higher education. After the First World War, student numbers were boosted by the arrival of large numbers of ex‐servicemen. Their access to university was facilitated by the government‐funded Scheme for the Higher Education of Ex‐Service Students, which provided grants to nearly 28,000 students between 1918 and 1923. The article offers the first sustained historical analysis of the workings and impact of this programme, which constituted a major development in state support for individual students. The research upon which the article is based was funded by the AHRC World War One Engagement Centre at the University of Hertfordshire. In the wider project the authors also worked with community partners, Mike Day (National Union of Students) and Jude Murphy (Workers’ Educational Association).

Brewis, G., S. Hellawell and D. Laqua. 2020. 'Rebuilding the Universities after the Great War: Ex‐Service Students, Scholarships and the Reconstruction of Student Life in England'. History: The Journal of the Historical Association.  

Sunderland academics contribute to the Being Human festival 2019

Once again, historians at Sunderland are contributing to the nationwide Being Human festival. Click on the links below to find out more:

Sunderland's unsung heroes (Sarah Hellawell)
Coffee and sedition (Delphine Doucet)

As part of the festival, Sunderland is also hosting a talk by the historian Michael Wood on how Wearmouth saved the West.

The photographic historian Caroline McKay will also be presenting A New Vision of the World.

Dr Marion Phillips' Blue Plaque

Research by Dr Sarah Hellawell into female political activism in the North East has led to her discovering more about Sunderland's first female member of parliament, Dr Marion Phillips.  A blue plaque to mark Marion's role and the former location of the Labour party's committee rooms in Sunderland was unveiled on Friday 13th September.  The event was attended by Houghton and Sunderland South MP, Bridget Phillipson, Sunderland's mayor, Mr David Snowdon and mayoress, Mrs Dianne Snowdon, and about 50 others from the local community and representatives of the university.  This group also included young activists, NEFlow and students from St Wilfrid's RC College who help run the Canny Clean project.

Being Human Festival 2018

 

Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the British Academy, Being Human is a national festival promoting public engagement with humanities research. Between 17 and 23 November 2018, the School of Culture is hosting a series of public talks looking at this year’s theme of ‘Origins and Endings’ through the lens of Sunderland’s local history. The topics range from the Wearside origins of English republicanism to the end of heavy industry in the city. All are free to attend and open to all.


Click on the links to find out about these events.

• The North East Coast, the Sea and its Dangers (Dr Peter Hayes)
• A Place Fit for Heroes? The End of the First World War in the North East (Dr André Keil)
• Suffrage and Beyond in Sunderland: The City’s First Female MP  (Dr Sarah Hellawell)
•  The Lilburne Family and the Origins of English Republicanism (Dr Delphine Doucet)

Sarah Hellawell in the Northern Echo

A recent piece in the paper reports on Dr Sarah Hellawell's research on the often overlooked role North East students played in the First World War. Read all about it here.

School of Culture research seminar

Dr Sarah Hellawell (Lecturer in Modern British History,
University of Sunderland)

The first School of Culture Research seminar of the academic year will take place on 14th November 2018. Dr. Sarah Hellawell's paper is entitled ‘A strong international spirit’: the Women’s Co-operative Guild and Interwar Internationalism’. Established in 1883, the English Women’s Co-operative Guild (WCG) was a mass membership association of working-class housewives and mothers. During the First World War, the Guild was an outspoken critic of militarism and maintained an absolutist pacifist response during the interwar years. Internationalist ideals and activities relating to peace, co-operation and the citizenship of women influenced the WCG during the 1920s and 1930s. Yet, the impact of internationalism upon the Guild has previously been overlooked by historians. This paper examines the dynamic between the international, national and local dimensions of the WCG. 

The seminar will start at 4 pm in Reg Vardy 111 and is open to all.

North East students and the Great War

Dr Sarah Hellawell will be speaking on the theme of 'Students in the North East of England and the Aftermath of the Great War' at an event held by the North East Labour History Society. She will explore the impact of the First World War on student life in the North-East, shedding light on the student-led initiatives to foster a greater sense of internationalism during the interwar years. This research is part of the ‘British Ex-Service Students and the Rebuilding of Europe Project, 1918-1922′ led by academics at Northumbria, UCL and Sunderland Universities in connection with the National Union of Students and the North-East branch of the Workers’ Educational Association. It has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s WWI Engagement Centre at the University of Hertfordshire.

 

April 3rd 2018 at 7pm

Old George Inn
Old George Yard
Newcastle, NE1 1EZ

Dr Sarah Hellawell joins School of Culture

Dr Sarah Hellawell

The School is pleased to welcome to its ranks Dr Sarah Hellawell, who has been appointed Lecturer in Modern British History. Before joining us Sarah taught at Northumbria University, where she also completed her doctoral research. Her PhD examined the British Women’s International League (WIL), an organisation that campaigned for peace, disarmament and international law, alongside goals for women’s rights. Aspects of this research have been published in Women’s History Review and in a forthcoming book chapter for an edited collection on the history of the Union of International Associations. 

In 2017, Sarah was Research Associate on the 'British Ex-Service Students and the Re-building of Europe Project, 1919-1926'. She conducted archival research in London and the North-East of England on the history of student activism after the First World War. 

Funded by the AHRC World War One Engagement Centre at the University of Hertfordshire and led by academics at Northumbria University and University College London, Sarah also worked in collaboration with community partners – the National Union of Students and North East branch of the Workers Educational Association – to organise dissemination events in London and the North East. This project has led to a pop-up exhibition, public talks, a blog and a forthcoming journal article.