Calling Dr. Jones
Greetings History Students! Dr Jerram initiated a series of reforms last year to improve your experience at Manchester, which I’m now taking forward. We’re working on a number of fronts, but here are 6 key areas: 1. Feedback & Assessment: History has pioneered online submission through Blackboard/Turnitin, both saving students’ time and money, and making feedback on essays more easily accessible - no more crumpled bits of paper getting lost! We’re also developing the ‘Feed Forward’ marking system, where we identify specific points for you to work on after every piece of work. 2. Learning Resources: We’ve developed a reading-list strategy with the JRUL which includes: a) making all compulsory readings available online; b) purchasing more copies of key texts; c) extending online provision of texts through Blackboard. If you think there are problems with resources for a specific course unit, please let me know. 3. Academic Advising: Every student should know the name of their Academic Adviser (AA), and meet with them to discuss their progress, course choices, and where to go for careers advice. Among other reforms, we will be announcing a ‘Course Choice Day’ in May 2012, when all Level 1 and 2 students will meet with their AA to discuss next year’s options. 4. Joint-Programmes: Studying on a joint-honours programme presents unique challenges. We’ve appointed
dedicated liaison officers for each programme, and are actively working to improve communication with our principal partners, Economics, Politics & Sociology. 5. History Community: History is a large Department in a large University. We know that students sometimes feel anonymous and want to build a stronger sense of community. The History Society has done a terrific job, which all staff appreciate – thank you. And thanks also to the Manchester Historian team – we’re delighted the newspaper’s taken off! We’ll be announcing more staffstudent activities in the new year. 6. History Student Portal: The aim of the HSP is to create a single space which will direct you to all the resources you need at Manchester. Do have a look around, and make sure to check out the ‘Online Resources for Historians’. We think this is as useful a set of web pages for history students as any we’ve found. If you’ve found better, please let me know! We are working hard to improve what we do in History. We’ve made good progress, but there’s still room for improvement, so please don’t hesitate to let us know what we need to work on. Enjoy the vacation! Dr Max Jones (Director of Undergraduate Programmes in History)
Interview with Hannah Barker What first interested you in history? Studying ancient Egypt at primary school made me positive I wanted to be an Egyptologist. Quite how I then made the leap to the C18th I’m not sure, but my early love of ‘historical’ films of the 1950s and 60s (The Vikings, Robin of Sherwood, The Scarlet Pimpernel etc) might have had something to do with fostering my love of historical periods when men wore tights.
rather than gender history but have drifted towards it in recent years because it interests me. I get bored quite easily and like a new challenge and so I have worked on various types of history during my career, whilst always sticking in the eighteenth century and usually looking at the north of England. It wouldn’t surprise me if in 5 years I was doing something quite different.
What changes do you hope to bring How did you get into a career in about in the History department as history? head of history? I did a D.Phil. in history at Oxford and then was lucky enough get a teaching job at Keele.
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Why gender history?
I hope to make both students and staff as happy and productive in their work as possible. Paul Fouracre has done a great job and so I want to build upon his successes.
I started off doing political history,
Is creating a history community one
of your priorities? Absolutely, this ties in with the previous question - I think a common space for all historians is really important in terms of fostering a sense of identity and belonging.
What is your favourite era in history? See previous answer regarding male tight-wearing (or stockings, to be more historically accurate).
Any final words of wisdom for current history undergraduates? I’d like to (mis)quote Wordsworth here: ‘to be young is very heaven’. It may not feel like it at times, but this is probably the most exciting period of your life, full of possibility. Embrace it.