We were thrilled to announce in the summer that the Reluctant Internationalists project has received a Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Grant. The grant will enable us to work on a number of projects to help improve how modern history is being taught at British secondary schools. We look forward to collaborating with secondary school teachers and our partners at the Historical Association.

To help coordinate and manage this award, the project recruited Siobhan Morris as Public Engagement and Events Coordinator. Siobhan joins the project having previously completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in History at the University of Edinburgh. Specialising in modern European history, her research interests include internationalism and memorialisation, primarily the cultural implications of international conflicts. Her postgraduate dissertation examined ‘Visual Artworks and Concentration Camps: Appropriation, Exhibition and Memorialisation’. Prior to taking up her post with the Reluctant Internationalists, Siobhan spent a year at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.

In her role as Public Engagement and Events Coordinator, Siobhan is responsible for communicating the research findings of the project team through a range of activities, events, publications and across social media platforms. In addition, Siobhan is undertaking contained research projects for the team and coordinating our collaborations with school teachers. As a member of the London Public Engagement Network, Siobhan hopes that her commitment to collaboration ensures that multiple audiences will engage with the work of the Reluctant Internationalists and that this interaction can in turn be of great benefit to the project.

For any queries regarding the project’s public engagement activities or suggestions for joint events and future collaborations, please contact Siobhan at siobhan.morris@bbk.ac.uk

On 8th December, Jessica Reinisch will present a paper examining, ‘What makes an expert?’ as part of a workshop organised by the ‘Moral Economy of Global Civic Society: A History of Voluntary Food Aid’ research project. Alongside the workshop, there will be a public roundtable discussion addressing the opportunities and challenges of writing new histories of humanitarianism. Details of the event are outlined below.

Writing New Histories of Humanitarianism: Public Roundtable Discussion

Thursday 8th December 2016, University College London 16.00-18.00, followed by a drinks reception.

The history of global humanitarianism is currently a vibrant field of academic research worldwide. There are also moves to promote the use of history in the practice and policy-making of humanitarian action. This public roundtable will bring together key scholars from a variety of international settings, inviting them to comment on the successes and challenges of writing such histories, and to examine the ways in which academic work can engage with practitioners and policy makers.

This event is open to all and forms part of the end-of-project workshop organised by the ‘Moral Economy of Global Civil Society: A History of Voluntary Food Aid’ project, which has been funded by the Swedish Research Council 2013-2017, and is a partnership between Södertörn University, Sweden and University College London.

Speakers: Professor Norbert Götz (Södertörn University, Sweden), Professor Dominque Marshall (Carleton University, Canada), Professor Bertrand Taithe (University of Manchester, UK) and Dr Pamala Wiepking (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands)

Chair: Dr Georgina Brewis (UCL Institute of Education, University College London, UK)

Programme

16.00-18.00 Roundtable held in the Chadwick Lecture Theatre (B05 LT), Chadwick Building, UCL

18.00-19.00 Drinks Reception held in the Wilkins Building (Main Building) North Cloisters, UCL

To register, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-new-histories-of-humanitarianism-public-roundtable-discussion-tickets-27899200259

The Reluctant Internationalists project is currently involved in a number of initiatives aimed at equipping history teachers with resources and support. The project team, in collaboration with the Historical Association, are currently creating teaching resources for the history of the Cold War as part of the Teacher Fellowship Programme 2017 a fully-funded training course which will focus on the history and historiography of the Cold War. In addition, Dr Jessica Reinisch will be delivering a keynote lecture as part of a CPD training course on teaching the history of the twentieth century, ‘Tracing the Twentieth Century through Maps‘, to be held at the British Library in December.

We are seeking to provide further support for teachers by establishing a History Teachers Network to be based at Birkbeck College. This network is designed to provide an informal, social forum for secondary school teachers who are currently studying at Birkbeck or are alumni of the college.

The first meeting of the network will take place on Tuesday 22 November at 6pm in the Dreyfus Room, 28 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DQ. This introductory meeting will provide an opportunity to meet over a glass of wine, discuss plans for the network and enable the project team to find out about your teaching, pressures, experiences, resources and any means by which we can make your studies more relevant to your professional lives.

To register your interest in attending, or for any further information regarding the network, please email reluctant.internationalists@gmail.com

As previously announced, the Reluctant Internationalists are organising a series of walking tours around London showcasing the city as the home of international projects and presenting London as a magnet for international collaboration and a laboratory of ideas. The third of these walking tours will explore the history of communism in London and will be led by Dr Ana Antic and Dr Johanna Conterio.

The Communist London tour will examine how London was far more important than Moscow in the international socialist and communist movement before 1917. The tour will take participants through the history of international socialist and communist activism in London from the second half of the 19th century to 1917, and show that London served as a temporary home for the leading activists, ideologues and intellectuals of the movement. This walk through Soho will also highlight the links between London and continental Europe in this network of communist, socialist and Bolshevik internationalism.

The walk will start at 3.00pm on Friday 25th November 2016 from outside Queen’s Theatre, 51 Shaftesbury Ave, London W1D 6BA. The tour is open to all and is free to attend.

To book a place, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-london-walking-tours-tickets-27677084906 

As previously announced, the Reluctant Internationalists are organising a series of walking tours around London showcasing the city as the home of international projects and presenting London as a magnet for international collaboration and a laboratory of ideas. The second of these walking tours will explore epidemic response in London and will be led by Dr Dora Vargha.

The Epidemic London tour through Bloomsbury will explore local responses to global epidemics, which in turn shaped international epidemic management and scientific collaboration. The tour will narrate a century of epidemic response in London from Henry Wellcome’s diphtheria antitoxin to Peter Piot’s work on Ebola. Through these stories we will invite participants to understand current global epidemic challenges in historical context.

The walk will start at 1.00pm on Friday 25th November 2016 from outside the entrance to the Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE. The tour is open to all and is free to attend.

To book a place, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-london-walking-tours-tickets-27677084906 

As previously announced, the Reluctant Internationalists are organising a series of walking tours around London showcasing the city as the home of international projects and presenting London as a magnet for international collaboration and a laboratory of ideas. The first of these walking tours will explore London in wartime and will be led by Dr Jessica Reinisch.

The Wartime London tour through Belgravia and Westminster will bring to life the intense debates about international collaboration that took place in London during the Second World War. Many governments-in-exile seated in London took part in the planning of the new international organisations to be launched after the end of the war. A central focus was the international provision of relief to countries in need. The tour will therefore explore the physical proximity of central Exile and British politicians active in this debate, and tour the sites of their encounters.

The walk will start at 11.00am on Friday 25th November 2016 from outside 43 Eaton Square, London, SW1W 9BD. The tour is open to all and is free to attend.

To book a place, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-london-walking-tours-tickets-27677084906