NUM minutes digitised

Dr Stuart Howard

The North East England Mining Archive and Research Centre (NEEMARC), founded by Department of Culture member Dr Stuart Howard (History and Politics) has digitised the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Durham Association minutes books. The books, which cover the period 1876 to 1942 chronicle the records of the most powerful union in the country in what was arguably the most important region for coal mining, the North East of England. The volumes are now available online for historians, academics, universities, students, and the general public to view without having to leave their desks. They are the first NUM materials anywhere to be digitised.

Dr Kim Gilligan

Dr Kim Gilligan

The Department of Culture is pleased to announce that Kim Gilligan, who is a lecturer in the Primary Education Team in the Faculty of Education and Society, has been awarded a PhD in young adult literature. The title of her thesis - which was supervised by Dr Angela Smith and Professor Gill Crozier (University of Roehampton) - is A critical analysis of the representation of male characters in Bali Rai's Unarranged Marriage and Alan Gibbons' Caught in the Crossfire.

Research Excellence Framework 2014

The Department of Culture is delighted to announce that all the members of the English team have been submitted for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). This achievement reflects the strength of research and scholarship in English. In the period covered by the REF, current team members have published six books, 33 book chapters, 24 journal articles and have also been responsible for 13 edited collections.

John Locke

John Locke by 

Sir Godfrey Kneller. Oil on canvas. Britain, 1697.

Source: Wikimedia Commons 

The English liberal philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) was one of the most influential thinkers to have promoted the view that governments should uphold democracy, tolerance and human rights (rather than promulgate patriarchal, aristocratic, and narrowly religious principles). He is the subject of an encyclopedia entry by Dr Peter Hayes in the recently published Encyclopedia of Modern Political Thought (Sage, 2013).

A Q&A with Peter Hayes on international adoption

In recognition of Adoption Month, the Oxford University Press Blog interviewed Dr Peter Hayes (History and Politics) about intercountry adoption (ICA) to raise awareness of some of the complexities it presents. You can read the Q&A here.