Researching Student Histories Workshop Series
Organising committee: Dr Georgina Brewis, Dr Jodi Burkett, Dr Sarah Crook, Mike Day and Emily Sharp
Student life has changed radically over the last hundred years, and research is increasingly highlighting how changes in the student community, organising and experience has anticipated broader social and cultural changes. With 2022 marking the 100th anniversary of the creation by students’ unions of the National Union of Students (NUS) in England and Wales, this is an apposite time to take stock of these shifts. To celebrate, a series of events have been organised to highlight the history and work of students. Over the past few years research into the history of students’ unions/NUS, and student movements more broadly, has grown substantially. This scholarship has drawn attention to how students have negotiated issues around citizenship, service, politics, youth, sexuality, health, welfare and the very purpose of the university. This research has stimulated interest in and questions around sources, theories and methodologies: how can historians grasp and understand student life in the past, and what particular challenges and opportunities do student-produced materials present?
WORKSHOP 1: THE ARCHIVE
Online – 26 January 2022
This workshop focuses on the student archive, including presentations by those who work with the NUS archive, as well as research papers exploring key theoretical and methodological issues related to using these archival holdings:
00:00:00 – 00:11:50 – Mike Day (Official archivist of the NUS and author of NUS 90: A History of the National Union of Students), ‘The History and Future of the NUSUK Archives’
00:11:50 – 00:26:01 – Dr Charlotte Berry (Archives Manager Modern Records Centre), ‘The NUS Archival Holdings at the Modern Records Centre’
00:26:01 – 00:48:42 – Dr Kathryn Woods (Dean of Students Goldsmiths’ College, University of London), ‘Solving the Problem of Student Voice’s Absence from the History of Higher Education’
00:48:42 – 01:03:09 – Carlus Hudson (PhD candidate University of Portsmouth), ‘Critical Archive Studies in the National Union of Students archives: A Methodology for the Study of ‘Race’ in Social Movements and Union Organisations’
WORKSHOP 2: THE STUDENT PRESS, MEDIA AND FILM
Hybrid (Portsmouth and Online) – 27 April 2022
This workshop focuses on student media, including student newspapers, radio and film, and explores some of the theoretical and methodological implications of the moves to digitise student newspapers, competing narratives within the student media and ethical implications of the use of the student media in historical research.
00:00:00 – 00:16:40 – Dr Antonin Dubois (EHESS Paris (Main)), ‘Student Press in France and Germany in the 19th and Early 20th Century: History, Uses, Problems’
00:16:40 – 00:32:49 – Dr James Waghorne (University of Melbourne), ‘Digitisation of Student Press: Opportunities and Ethical Challenges in Writing Histories of University Life’
00:32:49 – 00:56:00 Dr Jodi Burkett (University of Portsmouth), ‘Close and Distant Reading of Student Newspapers: What student newspapers can (and can’t) tell us about the student experience’
00:56:00 – 01:10:30 – Rebecca Orr (European University Institute, Florence), ‘The University Archive and Decolonisation’
01:10:30 – 01:26:24 – Jack O’Connor (University of Sussex), ‘Competing Narratives and Alternative Aesthetics for a New University: Student Press at Sussex and Essex, 1960-1979’
01:26:24 – 01:42:44 – Kris Nolan (University of Portsmouth), ‘Student Radio and the Student Voice’
WORKSHOP 3: STUDENT STORIES: FINDING, USING AND MAKING ORAL HISTORIES AND RECORDED VOICES
Hybrid (Swansea and Online) – 11 July 2022
This workshop explored methodological approaches to researching student and university history through oral histories. Hosted by Swansea University and supported by GENCAS – the Swansea University Centre for Research into Gender, Culture and Society – the day saw multiple discussions around oral histories and the student experience unfold.
00:00:00 – 00:14:38 – Emily Sharp discussed her use of oral history in her work and considered the collective memory of student activists
00:14:29 – 00:30:50 – Sam Blaxland explored the use of student voice in work on histories of Swansea and UCL
00:30:51 – 00:48:19 – Jay Rees gave a paper on efforts to ‘capture the everyday’ and to move away from ‘traditional’ histories of institutions
00:48:20 – 01:07:38 – Bertie Dockerill used student debate records to assess shifting political cultures and traces of the student voice in interwar Britain
Later, attendees and contributors enjoyed a walking tour of the university, drawing attention to the ways that the built environment of the institution has shaped, and been shaped by, students’ experiences.
WORKSHOP 4: THE ‘STUFF’ OF STUDENT LIFE: MATERIAL CULTURE AND EPHEMERA
Hybrid (UCL and Online) – 14 September 2022
This workshop explored methodological approaches to researching student and university history through objects and the space and place of the campus. This workshop was held at UCL where it was sponsored by the research and engagement project ‘Generation UCL: 200 years of student life in London.’ The event featured an object based learning session in which attendees engaged with artefacts from UCL Special Collections and UCL Art Museum that included gowns, the IOE library bell, student blazers and ties and silverware, alongside more modern NUS ephemera such as posters, badges, t-shirts and pens.
Hugh Jones brought along hundreds of picture postcards of UK universities and colleges that form his privately-held ‘Higher Education Postcard Collection’. A campus walking tour included contributions from Georgina Brewis and Sam Blaxland as well as undergraduate student Molly Edwards who presented their summer research on LGBT+ histories at UCL.
Download PDF: 14 September Workshop
Download PDF: Student Histories Presentation
Download PDF: The Stuff of Student Life
News & Upcoming Events
Researching Student Histories Workshop Series
Find out more about the upcoming events on researching student histories and the use of student archives.
Student Strike for Education: Walk Out Teach In
We are calling on all students to join the strike and Walk Out / Teach In on 2nd March 2022.
Events
We have some events lined up to celebrate our birthday. Check them out and get registered.
2022 Year of the Student
On 10th February 1922, the National Union of Students was founded. That is 100 years of students making change.
