History - Research informed
An essential part of the History and American
Studies programmes is the way in which modules reflect staff
expertise and research, ensuring that students have access to the
best quality and most current content and teaching. Dr Wayne
Johnson’s teaching is informed by his on-going interest in race and
ethnicity in the United States. His recent exchange visit to
Pacific University in Portland, Oregon, in the United States meant
that he was able to take part in a number of collaborative sessions
with colleagues there, including Professor Jules Boykoff, who is a
leading expert on protest, dissent and social change, as well as a
tour of Portland, Oregon, with the founder of the Black Panther
Party (Portland Chapter), Kent Ford.
Dr Ian Horwood’s publications on the Vietnam
War inform his Level 3 module on 1960s America and a new module
Conflict on the East Asian Mainland. Dr Sarah Bercusson is
an expert on court culture in the Italian Renaissance and she
offers a new module on that very topic in Level 3. Sarah was
invited to attend a workshop in Vienna in December 2010, bringing
together researchers from the Universities of Innsbruck, Vienna,
Cambridge and York St John, to share ideas and prepare a panel
focussing on women in the early modern court for the European
Social Science History Conference, which will be took place in
Glasgow in 2012. Dr David Powell’s many publications on Edwardian
Britain and British National Identity are also reflected in his
modules on British history and the Victorian and Edwardian
periods.
This close connection between research and
teaching is a crucial aspect of what we do as a team. The teaching
input is further supplemented by bringing in a wide range of
visiting academic practitioners and heritage specialists who
introduce additional perspectives and opportunities for students to
engage with. These include:
Penelope Woods, from Queen
Mary College, University of London
Blaithin
Hurley, from the University of Cambridge
Clare Fletcher, the Learning and Community
Officer at Beningbrough Hall (National Trust)
Aisha Ali-Sutcliffe, the Precious Cargo
Project Officer for the York Museums Trust.