Durham History

New call for applications: RHS Workshop Grants, 2027, supporting day meetings of historians to plan and pursue a project bit.ly/48hkJrD The Society now invites applications for 6 Workshop Grants of £1000 each to support group activities and networking. Closing date: 15 January 2027 #Skystorians

Next Tuesday we host the Society's 2026 Public History Lecture with @greshamcollege.bsky.social: 6pm on Tuesday 3 November. We welcome Sathnam Sanghera who will speak on ‘What History is NOT’ bit.ly/4smNxZc In person attendance is now fully booked but online remains available #Skystorians

Are you 18–24 and looking for your next creative opportunity? Join the British Library Youth Collective You'll get to build new skills, shape our programme, meet brilliant people AND get paid for your time But don’t just take our word for it... Applications close Sunday 15 November link.bl.uk/46f

The FitMA team is (still) looking for a PhD-candidate with good Latin, a philosophical background, and a healthy curiosity for medieval manuscripts and digital editions. Don't procrastinate to apply! We might be looking for you! www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... #philsky #philosophysky #medievalsky

There's one week left to apply for 6-months' free online access to 'The Social History Archive', published by DC Thomson bit.ly/4iFNuF0 This is a new partnership to support historical research, using selected online content, for those without institutional access to these resources #Skystorians

Call for papers. 2026 Annual Conference of the Economic and Social History Society of Ireland will be held at Trinity College Dublin, 4-5 December 2026. Deadline is Friday 23rd October. Details: www.eshsi.org

What does it mean when we subvert, deface, or obliterate images and artefacts -- and what are boundaries between things that look 'sacred' and things that look 'profane'? Check out DU history colleague @lenscales.bsky.social's new volume, ICONOCLASM & POWER. 🖼️ boydellandbrewer.com/book/iconocl...

Our next speaker in the MEMSA Seminar Series is Malachi Gee, presenting on Monday 26th October from 6pm at 7 Owengate. As always, the seminar will be preceded by refreshments and followed by a trip to the local pub. Everyone welcome!

Check out the ongoing work of DU History colleagues @tombhamilton.bsky.social & Lenny Hodges & Joost Oosterhuis on @imems.bsky.social Inventing Futures! Each strand addresses global challenges on the UN’s SDGs, using medieval & #earlymodern resources at Durham –& beyond– to yield new responses.

☄️ Halley’s Comet blazed across the sky in 1066, as captured in the Bayeux Tapestry. Profs Giles Gasper, @durhamhistory.bsky.social, and Brian Tanner, @durhamphysics.bsky.social, tell us more about the “terror of kings” 👉 tinyurl.com/4fbd2evj #BayeuxTapestry #HalleysComet

Interested in small histories that offer big insights? Check out Prof. Jonathan Saha's new chapter, 'From the Horse's Mouth: Microhistory and Animal History' in the just-published BLOOMSBURY HANDBOOK OF MICROHISTORY 🐴https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bloomsbury-handbook-of-microhistory-9781350461147/

It's nearly History Day 2027. Come along on 18 November to see what you can discover! Read about some of the organisations who are attending in this #OnHistory blog by Lucy Baker, our Graduate Trainee Library Assistant. buff.ly/lfre6NE

Happy #TrimontiumTuesday ! How do we know that women and children were at Trimontium? They left behind their shoes! The sandals below attest to the variety of people that spent time at Trimontium, and it also tells us that families would sometimes tag along when a Roman soldier went on campaign.

Looking forward to next week’s London Group of Historical Geographers Seminar 27th October 2026 Jenny Bulstrode (UCL) on Black Watchmakers of the Caribbean www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Excited to welcome these brilliant scholars to our DU History Research Seminar this year: Prof @catherinefletcher.info, Dr @willpooley.bsky.social, Prof @jwhittle.bsky.social, Prof @emma-edin.bsky.social, Dr @shamaraw.bsky.social, Dr Holly Stephens, Dr @okhromeychuk.bsky.social & Prof Mark Bailey 📚

History of Medicine Week is BACK! 🎉 Join us October 26-30 for a week of free, virtual events, thanks to the wonderful work of the Education & Outreach Committee. Check out the full schedule and register on the AAHM website! histmed.org/history-of-m...

'It is unclear how viewing photographs, in monochrome or in colour, can shape choices that will have real-world effects' ICYMI: Prof. @christinajriggs.bsky.social's fascinating article in Visual Studies: 'Past caring: archive, affect, and whiteness in digital colourisation' doi.org/10.1080/1472...

Many congratulations to DU History colleague Dr. John Latham-Sprinkle, whose book has been shortlisted for the CESS Book Awards! Dr. Latham-Sprinkle's work explores 'the power of the foreign' in medieval state formation. centraleurasia.org/awards/cess-...

On this week's #LARBRadioHour, Historian Erin Maglaque joins the podcast to talk about her new book "Presence: A Hidden History of the Female Body." Listen now: https://lareviewofbooks.org/av/erin-maglaque-presence-podcast-interview-book/

Meet the #REFORC2027 Plenary Speakers! Our speakers will present the latest research on the overarching theme for the plenary lectures, "Defining, Demonstrating, and Defending Identity and Alterity in the Reformation Era". tinyurl.com/9kavsbhp

Counting down to publication day for Prof. Ara Keys' SUPER K: THE MAKING, BREAKING, & REMAKING OF HENRY KISSINGER'S LEGACY @simonschusteruk.bsky.social www.simonandschuster.com/books/Super-...

New issue of the JEMH is out! It opens with Guillermo Wilde and Fabián R. Vega on "Decentering European Written Culture" in Jesuit-Guaraní missions in Paraguay #EarlyModern #historians @earlymodhistory.bsky.social

If you'd like to hear Frederick Hyde talk about his current research on the 1857 election, join the Parliaments, Politics and People seminar tomorrow (Tues 20th) in person @ihr.bsky.social or online. Still time to sign up here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

We are looking forward to welcoming @catherinefletcher.info to the first DU History research seminar of the year, on 21 Oct, where we'll hear more about her fascinating work on #earlymodern firearms.

Had a wonderful evening, thanks to everyone who came. Began my PhD studies 10 years ago this month with an event marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, so there was an odd sort of poetry in taking part in this panel.

Congratulations to former DU History UG Frederick Hyde for publication of his article 'Flashman and the butcher’s boy: Chartism, print culture, and a Victorian meme' in the Journal of Victorian Culture. This article began life as a paper for one of @richardhuzzey.bsky.social's seminars!

Excited to see DU History's Prof. Giles Gasper on @looknorthbbc.bsky.social this week! Prof. Gasper's 'Jewel of the North' light & sound installation brings to life original medieval imagery and carvings @durham.ac.uk's Norman Chapel. www.durham.ac.uk/things-to-do...

A battle fought outside Durham 680 years ago changed the course of English, Scottish & French relations. But why have so few people heard of it? Dr Alex Brown of @durhamhistory.bsky.social explores the lasting impact of the battle of Neville’s Cross. Read more:👉 www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...

Bodleian Library, Oxford, Visiting Fellowships are open for application. These include African Studies Visiting Fellowship, Visiting Fellowships in Music, in Women's History and in the History of Science, a Visiting Fellowship in South Asian and Black History and more. Great schemes! #Skystorians

🎬 "Loved The Uprising? Here are ten ways to explore the real history behind the film" A lovely feature in @theconversation.com by Alex Brown @durhamhistory.bsky.social which includes my project @medimurdermaps.bsky.social and my forthcoming book @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social

I’m really delighted to have been awarded the Singer Prize by the British Society for the History of Science! My essay blends histories of disability, technology and the applied sciences to show how disabled people facilitated the diffusion of scientific management during the interwar period.

Congratulations to Lucy Jameson who has won the Singer Prize from the British Society for the History of Science for an essay based on a chapter of her PhD – ‘Pass the Parcel: Disabled Expertise, Prosthetics of Productivity, and Scientific Management in the British Post Office, 1918–1921’

Erin Maglaque's new book *Presence: A Hidden History of the Female Body* was The Guardian's long read this month: www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ju... @erinmaglaque.bsky.social

Wonderful morning of papers on Anglo-Jewish domestic spaces from Sophie Bellamy @durhamhistory.bsky.social, Daniel Lichman @lbilondon.bsky.social and Keren Darmon @parkesinstitute.bsky.social; Larisa Zorlescu on 19th c Jewish Romania; Eline Van Erdewijk on colonial Algerian elections & antisemitism

Marc Jaffré has a new article out in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society! 💻🎉💾👑 ‘Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France, 1589–1715’, doi.org/10.1017/S008... @royalhistsoc.org

John Latham-Sprinkle's book, 'The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240' is described by the judges as 'a masterly study which shows how historical analysis can be brought to bear even when source material is largely absent or fragmentary.' 3/4

Congratulations to our new colleague John Latham-Sprinkle on winning the Royal Historical Society first book prize for *The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850–1240*!

Congratulations to our students graduating today! A cool breeze and lots of graduation gowns this morning on Palace Green 👏 🙌 🥳 🥂 🍃 🧑‍🎓

Why is Robin Hood a household name while other outlaws remain largely unknown? 🏹 Dr Alex Brown @durhamhistory.bsky.social takes a look 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...

🌏💭 Last week, we hosted ‘Durham East Asia Postgraduate Research Conversations’. Organized by IMEMS member Sare Aricanli & theThinking East Asia (TEA) Research Cluster (@durhamhistory.bsky.social), the event also marked rthe inaugural meeting of the ‘East Asia in the North’ (EATN) network.

Great to hear Kay Schiller from @durhamhistory.bsky.social discuss the recent history of FIFA Presidents and their increased connection to politics alongside football's economic growth at St. Chad's #OutsidetheBox.

What happens when archival research meets lived experience? After the birth of her son, @erinmaglaque.bsky.social @durhamhistory.bsky.social began exploring how women’s bodies have been understood across history. Her new book uncovers hidden histories of the female body. 👉 bit.ly/4vhyG2y

Presence: A Hidden History of the Female Body, by Erin Maglaque is published today! 'This is the invisible history of the female body – birthing, caring, working, desiring. ... points towards a radical new way of understanding our bodies today.' @erinmaglaque.bsky.social tinyurl.com/bddaumzk

New article by our colleague Nick McGee! 'Two Journeys into Diaspora: Qing and British Imperial Investigations in the Dutch East Indies and Australia' 🤩 'demonstrating the surprisingly global reach of the late Qing state' www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🚨New paper just published! 📄 What drives #resilience and #sustainability in societies? Our paper reviews research in the #Mediterranean (1000 BCE–1000 CE) and explores how agent-based modelling can help test the mechanisms behind socio-ecological change 🌍 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Article by Leverhulme Early Career Fellow @caterose.bsky.social @durhamhistory.bsky.social on the importance of architectural atmospheres for developing our knowledge of the emotional landscapes of the past. Read here: doi.org/10.1163/2208...