Please click here to download a free e-print of the final version of this article, published by Taylor & Francis in the Journal of Gender Studies on 11 September 2020. Below you can find a pdf of the the Accepted Manuscript of the article. Abstract The widow was a much-satirised figure throughout the Victorian era, but […]
Read More »
This workshop enables researchers to familiarise themselves with innovative approaches and methods that can make for exciting new ways of conceptualising, designing, and carrying out their arts and humanities research in partnership with non-academic partners and audiences; at the same time, the workshop will also facilitate both critical and pragmatic appraisals of the processes and consequences of translating our work into impact narratives and metrics.
Read More »
On Armistice Day 2019, Will Davies visited us at the first ever exhibition of the War Widows’ Quilt at The Queen’s House, Greenwich, where it was installed from 7-11 November 2019. Will spoke to representatives of the War Widows’ Association who had contributed to the quilt, as well as to lead artist Lois Blackburn […]
Read More »
Made by John Felix, this film tells the story of the War Widows’ Quilt, a moving, important new memorial to the lives of Britain’s war widows. Made from armed forces shirts by over ninety war widows and their family members, this beautiful and moving piece of art tells many individual stories of love, loss, and grief while also shining a light on the ongoing history of war widowhood in the UK.
Read More »
On 9 November 2019, the Daily Express devoted a double-page spread to the first-ever exhibition of the War Widows’ Quilt at the Queen’s House, Greenwich. Giles Sheldrick, Chief Reporter, interviewed women who contributed to the quilt, representatives of our partner organisation The War Widows’ Association of Great Britain, lead artist Lois Blackburn, and me […]
Read More »
On Sunday, 11 November 2018, after the two-minute silence at 11.00AM, you’ll be able to listen to a feature on women and war that I recorded for BBC Radio Scotland’s Sunday Morning with … . Presented by Ricky Ross, the feature is a conversation between Ricky, Christine Morgan, who’s son Marc was killed by […]
Read More »
War Widows’ Stories captures the lives of war’s forgotten women past and present through oral history, participatory arts, public events, and archival research. The British public commonly imagine war widows to be elderly women who lost their husbands as a result of active combat in the Second World War, surrounded and supported by family, friends, the armed forces, and the state. While this applies to some women, it by no means describes the majority of Britain’s 18,950 war widows.
Read More »
I have been awarded one of the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Leadership Fellows grants. Centred around War Widows’ Stories and starting in September 2018, the Fellowship will allow me to substantially develop the project through further research on the history of war and by continuing my work with the war widows’ community and museums in an effort to raise public awareness of the lives of war’s forgotten women past and present.
Read More »
I’m excited to announce that I’ve been selected for one of the British Academy’s Rising Star Engagement Awards (BARSEA). These awards are granted to “some of the most promising and talented academics in the UK” and “are designed to encourage wider engagement with the humanities and social sciences within and beyond academia”. With an application endorsed by […]
Read More »
This blog is about academia and me. It’s about academia and you. It’s about sharing my experiences of my profession, and about sharing knowledge and skills which are too often taken for granted. It’s about those academic voices which are either not heard at all, or are not heard enough. It’s about challenging dominant ideas of what academics should look like. It’s about redefining what it takes to be an academic and how academics are expected to present themselves, their lives, and their work. It’s about making ourselves and our profession simultaneously vulnerable and stronger, so that we can help change what makes us feel inadequate, ashamed, or unprofessional. So that we can help make academia more inclusive.
Read More »
Researching your prospective employer is key to any good job application and interview. I’ve collated three key tips that will give you the edge over those who simply stick to departmental websites.
Read More »
On 11 November 2016, Mary Moreland and I launched the Heritage Lottery Funded project War Widows’ Stories live on Woman’s Hour. We were given eight star-struck minutes with BBC Radio 4’s Jenni Murray, and you can listen to the result below via BBC iPlayer. It’s needless to say I was so excited about being able […]
Read More »
I’m really pleased to say that I’ve been awarded my first external grant since my PhD. It’s not exactly news anymore by now, but last semester was so busy that I just couldn’t find the time to record things as they were happening. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years thinking […]
Read More »
I’m really pleased that my article about feminist history and mother-daughter relationships is out now in Feminist Theory and available to read for free as an “online first” publication. Below you can find the full reference for the print version of this piece, and the page on which you can access the full-text article.
Read More »
Get the popcorn, and dim the lights … Ok, maybe not. But if you had 5 minutes to watch my BBC Arts film on deviant Victorian widows (and why they could be so dangerous!), I’d be very honoured and humbled. I had great fun making it, and am much more pleased with the result than I thought I […]
Read More »
I was invited to write this piece for the Times Higher Education blog, where it was originally published on 26 June 2016 under the title “‘I’m scared’: German academic in the UK on the Brexit vote”. You can read the original post here, and it is reproduced word for word, without alterations, below. I am an immigrant. […]
Read More »
The handouts and presentations you find in this section of the blog were devised by me, and I’m happy for you to use and adapt them as you see fit, without crediting me. Of course, it would be great to know if you’ve used any of the materials collated here, and how – if at all […]
Read More »
I knew from the very early stages of my research that, for the Victorians, widows had a lot of tragic as well as comic potential. I don’t think, though, I was prepared to find quite so many widow-related jokes in the pages of periodicals, magazines, and newspapers. As their number increases by the day the more I browse and search, it only seems right to collate them here. So, ladies and gents, be prepared to cry with laughter, chuckle to your heart’s content, or shake your head in disbelief at these pitiful puns and witty lines on which you’re about to feast your eyes at your own peril.
Read More »