historygeek

all things history… but especially parochial conflict in early modern england

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • About historygeek
    • Deafness FAQ
  • Churches of Herefordshire
  • Contact
  • Other Writings
  • Professional

Month: March 2017

public history

12/03/201713/03/2017ukhistorygeek Leave a comment

As an academic historian-in-training, I’m used to dealing with the written word, whether that’s reading other historian’s work or primary sources from the past. Last week, however, featured the spoken word rather than the written. My first audio-visual piece went out to the world. A vlog (video log), a filmed debate done as part of the History on the Box blog series produced by postgraduate students at the University of Leicester, it’s been – so far – well received and it’s something I’m pretty proud of. Myself and my fellow student, Katie Bridger, were debating the merits of the ‘ambitous and groundbreaking’ method of presenting history promoted in ‘Lucy Worsley’s Six Wives’ series which aired before Christmas 2016. The new method referred to is the way in which Worsley, one moment dressed in modern, 21st century clothing, presents as the historian we know, when someone will cross the screen, and suddenly, she’s dressed in sixteenth-century dress, a maidservant in the background, observing the events of the wives of Henry VIII. Sort of time travel, if you like. Is Worsley successful in this? Well, that’s what Katie and I were arguing about – and if you want to know the outcome, you’ll have to watch the video.

It has, however, stirred up thoughts in my mind about public history as a whole, about the role that we, as academics, have to play in terms of passing on our knowledge; of increasing awareness of history as a whole and specific historical knowledge; and also some of the key skills that we, as historians, learn. Not every historian is going to want to do this kind of public engagement, but I think its something that is particular to the kind of historians both Katie and I are – we’re both students at the Centre for English Local History at the University. I think a lot of the people from the Centre are willing to spend time in talking to people, that they seem – and I’m aware that I’m generalising here – to find it rewarding in doing this kind of public engagement. Talking to people who want to know more about the history of their own area. Those who are curious about the past often want to know about their own area, to understand, for example, why local villages are named in certain ways. I think, to a certain extent, that’s human nature; a certain sense of curiosity about why things are, as they are. There are many many talks occurring up and down the country in village halls, guildhalls, churches, on the streets: people – not just academics, but people with knowledge, who are willing to spare a little time to share what they’ve learned to those who want to know. Now that I stop to think about it, and consider the people that I’ve met through the Centre, not just those who taught me on the English Local History MA course but ex and current students at the Centre, that sort of passion for imparting knowledge, for teaching, even in small bursts, is shared by most, if not all of us. An interview with Worsley, for example, echoes the same point, when she explains why she doesn’t work in academia: ‘I am interested in talking to people at large rather than experts. I want to express my enthusiasm for history with as many as possible.’ Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this passion is unique to people from the Centre, or even to historians as a whole; you only have to think of, say, Brian Cox, who has a similar passion for teaching physics to see what I mean.

But what does this passion mean to the national engagement of history, as a whole? While the urge to teach – in a variety of ways – is certainly prevalent across historical academia, we have to recognise that not every person is interested in sitting down and watching a more traditional history television documentary. This invariably features visits to the places being discussed, perhaps featuring the primary sources being discussed, sometimes actors who portray the people and scenes that we know of from history, sometimes talking, sometimes not. But what the debate has really clarified, in my mind, is that I think those who make history documentaries for television, perhaps feel that the now-traditional format described above (which, believe it or not, was once groundbreaking in itself) has had its day, and that its not engaging with new audiences any more. After all, there is a reason that certain subjects like the Tudors have – as I said in the video – been done to death. Ultimately people like to hear about the foibles of the great, the wealthy, the scandalous. They like to hear that they are human, just like them. These are stories, not quite real, and serve the same purpose as the stories that were once told round fires at night in the village pub, or, even further back, in the middle of the settlement or camp that they were living in at the time. Human psychology means stories will always be told; if a certain king behaves in a certain way, then it means Joe Bloggs feels a little better when he’s perhaps behaved badly in a similar way (although not quite so badly, of course. Kings get away with more than ordinary mortals do!) But the current prevalence of historical television programming is causing a problem; more channels, even a channel devoted to history, means we are rapidly reaching saturation point, and although there is – as Katie pointed out in the debate – so much out there that could be filmed and talked about, for many people, they just don’t want to know about anything that isn’t a bit familiar, glamorous, or heroic. The history of the ordinary person, for example, Mary the baker’s daughter from the next village over, in television terms, just ain’t sexy.

But if these documentary makers can hit on the next new big method in history documentaries, then this saturation point goes back to being unsaturated. They have to start over, with telling all the current stories in this new way. There’s also the possibility of gaining new audience share, of pulling in those people who might not watch a traditional documentary. Win-win! I think these concerns are at the root at not only Worsley’s ‘Six Wives’ but also ‘1066: a year to conquer England’, which is on television at the moment. That series has everything: it has Dan Snow as the presenter, visiting the different places that feature in the history, it has actors playing the roles of the different people involved; it has historians (Janina Ramirez, Tom Holland and Dan Jones) around a table, arguing for the different historical figures that they are representing. The premise of that series is that 1066 was the year that changed everything; and periodically the screen fills with a countdown to the Battle of Hastings across the 3 hours that the series takes up. Whether that series is successful in being the next new big type of history documentary or not (I would argue not – I think it is too cluttered and hectic) I think we’re going to see more of these experimental types of history programmes on the television.

What does this have to do, however, with those of us who speak to substantially smaller audiences, on topics such as local history? I think we often take our lead from these programmes. Those who come to our talks often like to listen to/watch history on national media as well, and that will shape their expectations of us. Those of us who are serious about our crafts – that is, public history engagement – will be wanting to deliver, to keep people listening. If we become old fashioned, then our message becomes less attractive. I think too, that our message, in a way, is more important now. The world seems to be changing; right-wing opinions are coming to the fore and fake news is a real and present worry for not only public figures but for those of us who listen and watch current events. The skills that we as historians have are critical in defeating things like fake news. I don’t mean so much the ability read Latin or medieval writing, but the skill of analytical questioning, of not simply accepting at face value, a document that is presented to us. Of thinking; if we have a letter, why someone has written it; who they were writing to; for what purpose; where, when; why has it survived? Basic questions that historians are used to working with that need to be applied to modern documents too.

I don’t think its any accident either that the last year has also seen at least two television series devoted to the topic of historiography (that is, how the history that we tell of a specific subject has changed over time).¹ It’s critical that people understand that the way that events and topics are described can be changed according to who is talking/writing – and that truism is as true now as it is for the past. One of the few ways to break the spell of fake news is to understand how it has happened before, to past events, whether the ‘fake’ has been crafted deliberately or not – and for that, historiography is critical. In that sense, I think historians have a very real and vital role to play, whether that’s on national television or radio programming, or talking to a small group of people in a village hall for an hour, explaining how you’ve question the documents on the topic you’re talking about.

Public engagement is becoming more and more important as part of a historian’s role, I think. The days of being able to rest within the ivory towers of academia, if they ever did exist, are well and truly over. I think this is at least partially why PhD funding programmes like Midland3Cities are so keen to make sure that those they support (those who will be the next generation of academics, in other words) are able to do this. And I think, that no matter the direction that television documentaries do go in, that academic historians of all kinds and levels continue develop their public engagement role.

¹ Timewatch and ‘British History’s biggest fibs’ with Lucy Worsley

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Photograph Credits

The photograph above was taken by myself, at St. Mary in Arden, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, Sept 2012.

Blogroll

  • A Don's Life The Times Literary Supplement – Mary Beard
  • Academic Kindness A record of unsolicited kindness, unexpected goodwill, and excessive generosity in academia.
  • Daily Life of a PhD Daily updates from a PhD student
  • Doing History in Public A collective project by historians for the public
  • Dr Ellie Mackin Ancient historian who focuses on archaic and classical Greek religion. Is a Teaching Fellow in Ancient History in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Leicester.
  • Early Modern Notes early modern crime, women, digital history…
  • Essex Voices Past Digging up our Historical Past
  • Melissa Ridley Elmes The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne
  • Microbe Stew Microbiology, science communication, education and careers
  • New History Lab – Leicester Blog of the New History Lab group at the University of Leicester
  • Not Just Another PhD Blog written by a Psychology PhD student (now a Dr!). Her other interests include interests include gaming, socialising, stationery, Pokémon, and making stuff.
  • patter research education, academic writing, public engagement, funding, other eccentricities.
  • PhD Comics comic strip following PhD students
  • PhD Life Group blog, written by team of PhD students from Warwick Uni
  • PhD Talk … random thoughts on the process of doing a PhD, research on shear in reinforced concrete and everything remotely related to this…
  • PhD(isabled) The experiences of disabled PhD students are seldom heard in the world at large. Our goal is to create a space for PhD students with disability or chronic illness to share their experiences.
  • PhDanger The evolving tale of my PhD as it happens
  • Research Tales A PhD student attempting to critically engage with narrative research in early childhood education. My doctoral project focuses on family-educator and family-teacher relationships during the transition to kindergarten in marginalized communities.
  • Seventeenth Century Lady Good day to you! I’m a 17th-Century historian, specialising in the Late Stuart period, with an emphasis on the reign of William and Mary (1689-1702). I’m an independent researcher and not an academic.
  • The Social Historian Jonathan Healey is Associate Professor in Social History at the University of Oxford. He works on poverty, economic development, popular political history, and rural history from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
  • The Thesis Whisperer Just like the horse whisperer – but with more pages
  • Tranquil PhD Yoga, PhD-student-life and everything in between
  • Water out of Place We live our lives surrounded by place-names. In Britain, most of these names are over a thousand years old and the names of many of our rivers much older still. But how many of us know what these place-names mean & how might these names be helpful?
  • Women's work in Rural England The project aims to systematically describe and explain the contours of women’s working lives in rural England between 1500 and 1700, making comparisons between women’s and men’s work, and paid and unpaid work.

Recent Posts

  • Church visit: St Mary’s, Almeley
  • Church visit: St John the Baptist and St Alkmund, Aymestry
  • Church visit: St Barnabas, Brampton Bryan
  • Church visit: St James, Wigmore
  • Church visit: St Margaret’s
  • Church visit: St Clydawg
  • Church visit: Holy Trinity and St Mary, Abbey Dore
  • time management: the bullet journal
  • Not abandoned, no…
  • public history

Archives

  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • March 2013

Recent Comments

Andrew Pound on Church visit: St James, W…
Vicky Stewart on mystery photographs
James Gould on Church visit: St Mary’s,…
Shirley Patterson-Wa… on Church visit: Holy Trinity and…
ukhistorygeek on Church visit: St Mary’s,…

Categories

  • Academic Emotions (21)
  • articles (1)
  • Blogging (3)
  • Career (2)
  • Conferences (5)
  • DailyPhD (24)
  • deafness (2)
  • Ethics (3)
  • Herefordshire Churches (7)
  • Herefordshire Record Office (4)
  • Herefordshire Victoria County History (2)
  • Leicestershire Victoria County History (1)
  • MA studies (13)
  • Other (9)
    • Musings (6)
    • Mysteryphotos (1)
  • PhD (25)
    • Midlands3Cities (8)
    • PhD induction (7)
    • PhD Management (1)
  • PhD Proposal (7)
    • lit review (2)
  • Research (17)
    • Charnwood Roots (1)
    • MA Research (9)
    • PhD Research (7)
  • Self-Reflection (2)
  • Source material (23)
  • Teaching (2)
  • Technology (1)
  • Writing (7)
Follow historygeek on WordPress.com

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com
Blog at WordPress.com.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: