History matters. And today it matters more than at any other time in the recent past. In a time of globalisation and rapid change, a shared sense of the past is both more valued and more contested. History studies not only the past, but the legacies of the past in the present. And an understanding of that past is essential for strength and resilience, both for individuals and wider societies. To understand where we are, we must know how we got here.
Unsurprisingly, history is also extremely popular. It is a vibrant discipline that enjoys widespread engagement with an active and enthusiastic public. Many enjoy history as a leisure activity, visiting museums and sites of historical interest, watching programmes about the past and reading history in huge numbers. Researching family history has become a popular pastime as millions take advantage of the digitisation of archives and records, while many others participate in community and local history projects, and enjoy history festivals, podcasts and other resources.
Historical practice is rich, varied and innovative, with historians continuing to research, and to communicate the results of this research, in a range of pioneering and engaging ways. History is a superb preparation for professional and personal life in all its complexities, teaching us the essential skills of evidence gathering, critical thinking and clear communication.
At the Royal Historical Society, we support historical research and practice at all levels.
We provide funding that extends from Masters scholarships for students from underrepresented backgrounds, to schemes to encourage historical research, and book workshops for mid- and later-career scholars. We are proud to be a home for a range of historians, some working independently of academia, and others teaching and researching within it. We celebrate and support the excellent and diverse work of our members through a range of prizes, awards, lectures, publications and networks.
But simultaneously history, together with other humanities disciplines, has found itself under assault in many places. History has been placed firmly, and often unhappily, in the front line of the culture wars in recent years; a reflection of its importance to wider society, but also an often unwanted and time-consuming drain on scarce resources. There are further challenges. STEM and other applied subjects receive the lion’s share of attention and funding in higher education. In Britain, as elsewhere, higher education itself is in a parlous state and this has had a negative impact on many historians and history departments. In response, the resources of the Royal Historical Society have been increasingly focused on campaigning and advocacy for our profession and practice.
Our new strategy, which outlines the key aims and priorities of the Royal Historical Society over the next three years, thus comes at a crucial time for our discipline. While it was written by members of the Royal Historical Society’s current Council, it is addressed to all of us, and invites each of our members — and historians more widely — to participate in the activities which will help to support and deliver on our priorities. The Royal Historical Society is its members, and your suggestions and ideas, contributed through an extensive online survey and subsequent focus groups in 2025, inform what follows.
Lucy Noakes President of the Royal Historical Society November 2025
ABOUT THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Founded in 1868, the Royal Historical Society (RHS) is a learned society, membership organisation and charity with a 150-year history. Today, the RHS is the UK’s foremost society working for historians and history.
More than 6,500 historians belong and contribute to the Society — as fellows and members active in the UK and worldwide. This makes the RHS the UK’s largest membership organisation for historians of all kinds, and from all walks of life.
The Society works to support and promote history and historians across a wide range of activities. These include: advocacy for the value and practice of history; policy work relating to academic research and education; publishing of a journal, primary source collections, book series, and scholarly communications; events showcasing new research and skills; research funding for historians at all career stages; and an annual awards programme recognising excellence in the discipline.
The Society is led by its Council who are elected from the fellowship, supported by a small office staff based at University College London, UK.
ABOUT THIS STRATEGY
The ways in which the Society supports history and historians are shaped by the environment in which we work. This strategy appears at a time of considerable instability, disruption and uncertainty in the professional lives of many of our members, and especially those who teach and research in higher education in the UK and worldwide. Historians working in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums field also face funding challenges, while independent historians seek and deserve greater recognition of their work and support in accessing resources.
Our strategic goals, from 2026 on, recognise the turbulence and precarity which many historians now face. The priorities and initiatives proposed here seek to enable the Society to better support the historical discipline and profession — to respond effectively to these pressures where needs are greatest. By identifying core pillars of future work we seek a coherent and consistent approach at a time when plans may otherwise be disrupted by immediate events.
In identifying our strategic priorities, we have engaged in many conversations: with current and former Councillors, with partner organisations, with history practitioners, and — above all — with our fellows and members. This strategy draws extensively on the advice and requests raised by RHS members, initially in early 2025 in a wide-ranging survey and then with a series of focus groups. The quotations you’ll see in this document are from historians who took part in the survey and focus groups. Both of these activities provided important insight into the kind of Society that is required to best support the historical discipline, profession, and our membership.
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR 2026-28
1Champion, promote and celebrate historical research and expertise, to advance the creation of historical scholarship and the public understanding of history.
History is central to our understanding of personal, civic and national life. It is also popular, as seen in the many forms of history that are widely consumed and enjoyed in multiple formats. At the same time, history’s appeal and significance can leave it open to distortion and poor practices, while technological change risks undermining the historian’s craft. It’s vital we communicate the importance, and the qualities, of highquality research and scholarship.
In the period of this strategy, we therefore seek to:
• Celebrate the advancements to knowledge made by historians, which are the result of expertise and specialist understanding.
• Demonstrate the historian’s craft and the links between high-quality historical research and successful forms of popular history.
• Champion the importance of historical expertise and the contribution this makes to civic life, the economy and to wellbeing.
• Raise awareness of the implications — negative and positive — of technological change, notably artificial intelligence, both on education and on the practice and ethics of historical research.
• Promote best practice in teaching and learning, so that new generations of historians acquire vital skills of critical thinking.
To achieve this the Society aims to better communicate the many forms of historical research, the diversity of the historical profession, and the talents and skills of those who extend our understanding of the past.
“Over the past few years the RHS has consistently and vocally campaigned on the issues that matter most to historians inside and outside of academia. Its journal and events set the standard for our field.”
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR
2026-28
2Advocate and campaign for the value of history, and the work of historians, wherever they are located.
History may be popular with the public, but it’s currently at risk within higher education and related professional sectors. The Society must make a clear and convincing case for history and demonstrate history’s value to different constituencies. It must advocate for those who research and teach history and confront changes which diminish historical expertise and access to our discipline.
In the period of this strategy, we therefore seek to:
• Demonstrate the skills and applications of a history degree and training, the appeal of these to employers, and the continued relevance of skills in a changing workplace.
• Speak directly and effectively with key constituencies — for example, teachers, students, parents, employers, the media, university leaders, and policy makers — to communicate the many and varied rewards of historical study and research.
• Provide resources and data on the profile of the historical profession, notably within UK higher education, to inform and enable historians to advocate for the discipline themselves.
• Work collaboratively with other UK-based and international history societies and organisations; we are stronger and more effective together.
• Provide a voice for groups of historians who are often less well represented, such as postgraduates, early-career researchers, and historians working outside the education sector.
To achieve this the Society aims to broaden its advocacy work to bring in new audiences, including employers, and to host themed campaigns to explain and promote the personal, professional and civic value of history.
“ The Society is indispensable in its role as a voice of the discipline, and an essential part of the scholarly infrastructure. What we share is so much more powerful than what we can achieve as individuals, and the RHS represents that collective voice.”
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR
2026-28
3Strengthen the profile and reach of the Royal Historical Society to support the historical discipline and its practice.
The Society has a distinctive role among the many organisations that exist for history and historians. We must be clear in defining and communicating this purpose to ensure that, when we speak up, we do so clearly and consistently. In turn, the Society must better demonstrate its value to, and become a resource for, historians of all kinds within and beyond our traditional base in higher education.
In the period of this strategy, we therefore seek to:
• Develop a programme of resources and activities that extends the Society’s appeal and value to those working with history across higher education, in other professional sectors, and those who research and practice independent of institutional affiliations.
• Continue our work to develop and maintain relationships with the UK government, parliament, civil service, and university leaders.
• Raise the Society’s profile as a commentator on topics central to the historical discipline and profession.
• Consolidate and work to extend the membership of the Society, to place it on a robust footing and ensure that it speaks for as many historians as possible.
• Ensure the Society is a home for historians of all kinds and backgrounds, and continues to demonstrate and promote the importance of greater equality and opportunity — both in the historical profession and regarding access to history.
• Work collaboratively with other leading UK-based history societies and organisations, on shared priorities and in common cause, and develop closer ties with the Society’s international equivalents.
• Ensure that the Society disseminates its work as widely as possible via the website, mailing lists, social media, network events, publications, regional as well as national lectures, and visits to institutions across the country.
The Society aims to more effectively support and communicate the breadth and plurality of historical research research and practice, and to work collaboratively and effectively with partner organisations — especially in relation to advocacy and campaigning.
“By joining the Royal Historical Society you become part of a vast community of mutually supportive scholars who will aid your professional development in multiple ways.”
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR
2026-28
4
Enable our fellows and members to pursue historical research through a programme of publications, funding, training, events, networking and engagement.
Our members are at the heart of the Society and of the historical profession and its practice. The Society supports its members by enabling, showcasing and communicating high-quality research and teaching in higher education and related sectors such as galleries, libraries, archives, museums and public history. In increasingly uncertain times, we must foster an environment and a role for the Society where historians can meet, exchange ideas and work together.
In the period of this strategy, we therefore seek to:
• Provide greater leadership, training and professional guidance on subjects of shared interest and concern: for example, ethical issues in historical practice, research funding and evaluation exercises, and open access publishing.
• Better appreciate and provide for the specific requirements of members at different career stages, including those at mid- and later-career stages as well as historians starting out and working independently.
• Further develop our work with and for international members based outside of the United Kingdom.
• Develop our models of research funding to address the needs of historians at this time.
• Bring members of the Society into closer contact and seek to demonstrate the many benefits that membership of the Society brings.
To achieve this the Society aims to adapt its existing programmes in response to the greatest need, and to enhance the experience and value of being a member of an unparalleled community of historians.
“ The Society provides high-quality research and insights. These resources support academic growth and broaden my understanding.”
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
FOR 2026-28
5Ensure a confident and sustainable future for the Royal Historical Society.
Now more than ever historians need the support of the Society and similar organisations. At the same time, we are being asked to do more with limited resources. To best support history and historians, the Society must ensure it is well-managed, stable and confident when it speaks up for the discipline and profession.
In the period of this strategy, we therefore seek to:
• Ensure the continued growth, and retention, of the Society’s fellowship and membership through a recruitment programme that recognises the many ways in which historians undertake research within and beyond higher education.
• Involve members more closely in our activities to ensure we achieve more by drawing on the talents, energy and generosity of historians within the Society’s membership, across the UK and internationally.
• Undertake regular reviews of this strategy to ensure it is consistent and clear in its actions while capable of adapting to new situations.
• Ensure the effective management of the Society in line with the recommendations of its 2025 governance review.
• Manage the Society’s finances by seeking to diversify sources of income while ensuring that expenditure remains focused on the discipline, its practitioners, and our members.
• More clearly demonstrate our work, and the benefits brought to historians, to enhance the Society’s profile as a charitable endeavour.
To achieve this the Society aims to undertake regular reviews of its activities — in concert with its members — to ensure these are sustainable and effective, and to ensure the Society’s future membership fully represents the practice of history.
“Now more than ever historians need to belong to the Society and benefit from being part of a wider national and international network. Every historian should be a
member.”
OUR STRATEGY IN ACTION
With this strategy, we seek to offer a working document that results in tangible, positive developments in the Society’s contribution to historical research and practice, and discernible benefits for our membership, historians more widely, and the discipline. These aims were central to the survey and focus groups that informed this strategy — with reference both to existing work and new initiatives.
We intend the five principles of this strategy for 2026-28 to be accompanied by sustained actions and new initiatives, and that these take account of the interests and priorities of the Society’s membership.
In meeting our strategic goals, the Society seeks to develop key areas of its existing activity. These will include:
• Adapting its research funding programmes in response to new professional needs, priorities and changes in institutional support.
• Providing guidance and advice on matters of practice and policy that are central to the work of historians.
• Extending the events and activities the Society hosts beyond its London base, to ensure we better reflect and engage with the Society’s UK and international membership.
• Increasing advocacy work, to ensure that — in collaboration with partner organisations — we speak up for the most urgent needs of the discipline and communicate clearly with audiences beyond our immediate community.
• Recognising and celebrating historians’ many contributions to cultural and civic life, and demonstrating the skills and expertise of the historical profession.
Instances within the first year of the 2026-28 strategy will include: new early-career opportunities for working with employers who value historical skills beyond higher education; closer attention to historians leaving academia and seeking new careers; more of the Society’s former ‘London lectures’ taking place across the UK; greater opportunity to discuss pressing matters, such as historians’ engagement with artificial intelligence, seeking to collect and share best practice while recognising the limitations, risks and challenges of this new technology.
Longer term, our strategic goals will prompt both new approaches to how the Society operates and fresh initiatives. These will include:
• Closer involvement with the historical community to demonstrate the value of history, for example by showcasing the work of our fellows and members and the wider discipline.
• Devolving selected RHS initiatives to members, organised regionally or by subject interests, to extend the number and range of activities the Society is able to host and undertake.
• Creating ways for RHS members who wish to do so, to play a fuller role in the work of the Society.
Proposals on which we are currently working include: an annual ‘Festival of History’ to highlight the work of history in its many forms across regions of the UK, and to show the tangible civic and economic benefits of these; greater opportunities for members to meet in-person and online; and closer involvement of members as experts in developing guidance for the historical profession.
GETTING INVOLVED
At its centre, the Society’s governing Council and Office, comprise a small team of volunteers and professional staff. As a whole, the Society is a meeting place of more than 6,500 historians and supporters of our discipline.
Many respondents to our 2025 survey expressed willingness to play a more active role in the Society’s activities, especially within their own regions — in the UK and in some of the more than 70 countries where the Society is represented.
Central to this strategy are plans to engage, involve and consult with fellows and members, as well as with historians beyond the RHS, and to develop forms of activity that enable those who wish to contribute to do so. We will develop these activities and forms of engagement across different elements of our strategy. If you are interested in being more closely involved, please contact the Society.
KEEPING IN TOUCH
You are very welcome to contact members of the Society’s Council and Office if you have questions or comments about our work or your membership. Full details of the Society’s Council and Office are available here, with key contacts below:
RHS President: president@royalhistsoc.org
Director (Office): director@royalhistsoc.org
Membership and Programmes Manager (Office): membership@royalhistsoc.org
General enquiries: administration@royalhistsoc.org
Website: royalhistsoc.org/
Members’ Directory: directory.royalhistsoc.org/login/ Social media: @royalhistsoc.org
The Royal Historical Society University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
