Making history: UON team to head up regional network

The University of Northampton (UON) is the new host of a network of regional history professionals dedicated to advancing the subject.

From August 2022, UON’s Centre for Historical Research will lead the East Midlands Centre for History Learning and Teaching and Learning (EMC) and host the EMC for two years.

Created in 2015, the EMC is a collaboration of nine history departments across the East Midlands. Its main aims are to develop, share, promote and investigate excellence in History teaching in higher education.

The Network does this by showcasing best practice, providing starter funding for projects, and enabling collaborations between postgraduates and historical researchers at different stages of their careers.

The University has been part of the EMC since 2015. In that time, UON has collaborated on several joint funding bids with partners across the region.

The University has also hosted multiple events about areas as diverse as new ways to teach about the 18th century, the challenges of teaching the history of political extremism and radicalism, through to student and staff engagement with careers-related placements and work-related learning. Each of these has led to developments in History teaching at UON.

To formally mark its stewardship of the EMC, UON’s History team will host a virtual conference on 14 September focused on the future of university History teaching in the East Midlands and events for professional development for staff and our postgraduate student community.*

Dr Caroline Nielsen – Senior Lecturer in History and Heritage – is the EMC’s new Convenor and said: “We are all absolutely thrilled to host the EMC and continue the excellent work of our colleagues in Nottingham and of the EMC committee.

“We are busy preparing for our first event to officially mark the University of Northampton as the new custodians of the EMC. We are particularly keen for Northampton’s History and Humanities Postgraduate Research (PGR) community to be involved, and to learn from colleagues in different areas. There will be opportunities to take part in different professional development events and join the EMC mentoring scheme.”

If you are a member of the History PGR community and would like to be involved, please contact Dr Nielsen caroline.nielsen@northampton.ac.uk

Find out more about the EMC on their website.

Follow the UON History team’s conversations on their blog.

*Further details about the conference will be published nearer to the time of the event.