Welcome to the first post on my American History blog. I am going to use this blog to post job/careers advice and to draw your attention to interesting resources in the field such as new websites or other people’s blogs, to comment on developments in the study of American History such as new books and also to talk about important conferences.
I’ll start by sharing a teaching resource. As well as a research-active, publishing historian I am also a teacher in the history department at Manchester Metropolitan University.
When I arrived there was only one other person in a department of 18 staff who worked on American history.
Then I realised that American history is not seen as a central topic in many departments in the UK (apart from American studies departments: I’ll talk about the differences in culture between History and American Studies in future posts). Many historians of America are isolated, so I decided to start a network for Teachers of North American History based at UK universities to bring us together.
The network is administered by the Higher Education Academy and we meet twice a year to discuss pedagogical matters and share experiences and resources. Our last meetings were held in Manchester and Keele. For more information and reports on our first two meetings please click here.
Anyone can join from postgraduate tutor to professor (it’s also a great networking opportunity). We’re planning to hold another event in the autumn, although our future is uncertain due to changes in the administration structure at the HEA. If you’re interested in joining please email me.
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