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.  

Goodbye to the humanities at Sunderland University

We are saddened by recent news of cuts to #humanities courses at University of Sunderland. Researchers in history, languages, politics at #Sunderland have been great supporters of the festival, champions of their disciplines and advocates for the region https://t.co/55RiCNdLAk

— Being Human festival (@BeingHumanFest) January 22, 2020

JOINT STATEMENT: "@PolStudiesAssoc, @UACES and @MYBISA are dismayed at the decision of @sunderlanduni to close its teaching and research programmes in Politics, History and Modern Languages."https://t.co/WmQ1JjxbwK

— The Political Studies Association (@PolStudiesAssoc) January 22, 2020

Just call me Dave

In a special edition of the Journal of Language and Politics which she guest-edited, Professor Angela Smith has published an article which shows how male politicians can draw on performances of masculinity to appeal to voters. Angela uses former UK Prime Minister David Cameron as an example of how performances of masculinity interact with the opportunistic use of populist forms of political engagement. She argues that while Cameron’s performances of populism are often situated in compatible policy initiatives such as the “big society”, we can also identify a more sustained deployment of masculine discourse in “performances” of alignment with the people. Angela shows how these gendered performances of political leaders mirror changes in society, while exploring how they can also be politically hazardous.

'Just call me Dave': David Cameron’s perilous populist status.' Journal of Language and Politics (Published online: 15 Jan 2020), 1–20.