AHRC funded doctoral research training

Report on the Skills for Modern and Contemporary Historians training programme

The AHRC funded a series of one day training workshops for PhD students of modern / contemporary history and other contemporary interests. This national programme drew on the specialist skills of archivists from University College London, Churchill College Cambridge, the Bodleian Library Oxford and other archives. The programme covered the changing contents of political archives, academic use of the Freedom of Information Act and how to locate and use media and oral history sources. Many of the sessions were relevant to researchers from other disciplines.

Workshop 1 - The The Changing Contents of Archives

Using archival sources uncritically to study politics/policy and paying limited attention to other archives can produce limited projects. This session encouraged awareness of how what is retained in archives influences the history which is written. A key theme was the way that the contents of archives from the latter part of the century differ from archives covering the early part of the century. The ways in which materials retained reflect changes in the policy process was also addressed. Topics covered included: types of materials retained by central government; the prevalence of material on opinion polls, television and the media in private political archives; the prevalence and significance of policy briefings and pressure group comments; and, the paucity of private letters and papers showing the views of the main subject.

Examples were drawn from Bodleian Oxford, Churchill College Cambridge, TNA, National Library of Wales, National Library of Scotland, Labour/Conservative party archives amongst others. Consideration was also given to how archive contents will change again once they contain electronic material - from websites and blogs to e-mails.

Contributors included: Prof. John Calaghan (University of Salford), Dr Nick Mansfield ( The People’s History Museum), The National Archives, Helen Langley (Bodleian), Prof. Rodney Lowe (Bristol University), Andrew Riley (Churchill College) and Fran Baker (Manchester University).

The workshop was held at:

University College London, 7th November 2008

Salford University, 26th November 2008

Click here to see the programme for workshop 1

Workshop 2 - The Freedom of Information Act

Many historical and policy based theses make little use of the Freedom of Information Act (introduced in 2005). This is partially because there is limited support. TNA and the Campaign for Freedom of Information provide on-line advice. However, the former is targeted at archivists and the latter at public use. The goal of this session was to demonstrate the research value of FOI through contributions from staff and students who have used it, showing how to locate material obtained via FOIA by others. The practical workshop demonstrated how to make successful FOI applications.

The workshop on the Freedom of Information Act will focussed on accessing contemporary material (i.e. from the last 30 years) and also on currently held material (for example, restricted files on WWII and subsequent periods).

Contributors included: Professor Duncan Tanner (FOI and government policy; making FOI requests), Dr Christopher J.Murphy (FOI and military/intelligence records) as well as speakers from The National Archives, the Constitution Unit, the Information Commissioner's Office and the Campaign for Freedom of Information.

The workshop was held at:

University College London, 20th February 2009

Salford University, 6th March 2009

Click here to see the programme for workshop 2

Workshop 3 - Using sound and media archives

Few historians - never mind students - of media studies are trained in the opportunities presented by television and radio news archives. However, ‘national’ archives are exceptionally useful for ‘regional’ issues: ‘regional’ programmes show how ‘national’ issues were represented. This session illustrated the value of seeing events rather than just reading about them.

Oral history archives are similarly neglected, wherein they give access to testimonies of people who are now dead and can provide sources of information for people/groups all over the UK. the contributions demonstrated these points. The workshop took suggested topics and identified available material in local/national depositories using the project team’s collective knowledge.

Contributors included: Prof. Duncan Tanner (Bangor University), Dr James Patterson (Director, Media Archive for Central England), Dr. Rob Perks (The British Library Sound Archive) and Dr Sian Nicholas (Aberystwyth University)

The workshop was held at:

Salford University, 17th April 2009

University College London, 1st May 2009

Click here to see the programme for workshop 3

A number of travel and accommodation bursaries are available for PhD students attending. The maximum bursary available to cover food, accommodation and travel is £90 but we will pay more if students are travelling from long distances. Humanities students can assume that they will receive funding if they apply in reasonable time. MA students are welcome to attend at the flat rate of £15 per workshop but must cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.

The programme is supported with funds from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The AHRC funds postgraduate training and research in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. The quality and range of research supported not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. For further information on the AHRC, please see our website www.ahrc.ac.uk