Current PhD Projects
Ian Boutle
Academic c areer: BA History, University of Manchester, 2002-2005; MA Modern British History, University of Manchester, 2005-2006
PhD t opic : My project, 'The Campbells and the Cult of Speed in Britain, 1922-1967', focuses on the famous father and son land and water speed record-breakers, Malcolm and Donald Campbell, and the changing public reception to their exploits throughout this 45 year period. Beginning at the point of imperial zenith and ending with decolonisation and burgeoning youth culture, the decline of this particular cult of speed appears to run parallel with suggestions of national stagnation. It will be fascinating to see how these heroes' self-presentation corresponded, or, in the latter period, did not correspond, with the mainstream ideals of the age.
Contact: ian_boutle@hotmail.com
Peter Braddock
Academic career: BA (Hons) History, University of Manchester, (2001-2004); MA Economic and Social History, University of Manchester, (2004-2005); PhD Economic and Social History, University of Manchester, (2005-onwards).
PhD t opic: My PhD is entitled, 'The Political Economy of Coal: A Comparative Analysis of the British and German Mining Industries, c. 1918-1933.' My fundamental interest lies in how these two industries responded to the new economic, social and political problems of the interwar period in a comparative perspective. Dominant research themes include industrial organisation and business performance, the relationships between industry and state, and the rise of labour militancy during the period. The project evolved from my undergraduate thesis at Manchester, which analysed the rank-and-file demand for nationalisation in the British coal industry after the First World War.
Contact: Peter.Braddock@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Jennifer Carson
Academic c areer: BA History, University of Bangor, 1999-2002; MA Russian History, Bristol University, 2002-2003; PGCE Post Compulsory Education and Training, University of the West of England, 2003-2004; PG Dip Social Science Research Methods, Nottingham Trent University, 2004-2005; PhD History, Manchester University, 2005-
PhD t opic: My research looks at the work of the Friends Relief Service, the relief assistance branch of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), with displaced persons in Germany after 1945. It considers how the Quakers as an organisation saw their duties to the displaced persons and whether these organisational ideals came into question in the field. The views of the FRS towards the actions of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and other humanitarian agencies in the field will also be examined.
Contact: Jennifer.Carson@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Gareth Crabtree
Academic c areer: BA History, University of Manchester, 2002-2005; MA War, History, & Culture, University of Manchester 2005-2006
PhD t opic: I am studying the representation of warfare in computer games and its effects on British society between the late 1970's and the present. Within this study I am focussing on how the computer game has aided the removal of the body, and promoted technological precise narratives in media representations of conflict. Another aspect will be how computer games have remediated and reconfigured narratives of previous conflicts such as the Second World War. Central to this study is the belief is that the computer game has become a vital cultural resource which historians should now begin to engage with.
Contact : Gareth.j.crabtree@student.manchester.ac.uk
Mark Crosher
Academic c areer: BA (Hons) 2.1 Modern History with Economics, University of Manchester, 2001-2004. MA (Merit) Modern European History, University of Manchester, 2005-2006.
PhD t opic: Title: 'Remembering Destitution': Recollections of Poverty during the Thatcher Years'. Overview: This PhD thesis analyses the contemporary oral testimonies from welfare dependants over their experiences of financial hardship and material deprivation during Thatcher's premiership in order to explore the social, cultural and psychological impacts of poverty upon the poor. The thesis investigates the evolution of the beliefs and values of welfare dependants during this period, as well as their individual memories and identities. Lastly, the thesis documents the recollections of the activities during this period of the Wood Street Mission, a children's charity based in Manchester.
Contact : Mark.Crosher@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Gareth Davies
Academic and p rofessional career: BA (Law), University of Cambridge 1971-1974, MA 1978; Solicitor in Private Practice 1975-2006; MA Modern European History (Distinction), University of Manchester 2000-2003
PhD t opic: `From André Tardieu to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing: The Evolution of the Modéré Tradition in France 1929-1981'. The thesis will examine the evolution of political liberalism in France from the beginning of André Tardieu's government in 1929 to the end of the Giscard presidency in 1981. Historians have tended to minimize the contribution that la droite libérale has made to modern French politics. Concentrating on haute politique, the thesis will seek to redress this imbalance and show that the institutions and practices of the Fifth Republic owe more to the tradition of political liberalism than has hitherto been conceded.
Chris Heath
Academic career: BA History 1985-8 University of Manchester; PG Dip Inf & Library Studies 1989-90 Liverpool Polytechnic; MA Medieval History University of Manchester 2004-6
PhD topic: Narrative Structures in the Works of Paul the Deacon. My research project will discuss the relationships between narratives & past and present historical discourse in the works of Paul the Deacon e.g. Historia Langobardorum. How did the narratives of Paul inform and influence the production of Early Medieval Italian history? What common features exist with other authors who deal with Early Medieval Italy e.g. Fredegar. Is Paul's treatment of identity, power and gender a discourse shared by other writers? Can Hagiographical sources assist as a platform to interrogate Paul's narrative presentations?
Contact: Christopher.Heath@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Catherine Feely
Academic career: BA Politics and Modern History, University of Manchester, 1999-2002; MA Cultural History, University of Manchester, 2002-2003.
PhD topic: `"What Marx Really Meant": print culture and the diffusion of Marx's Capital in Britain, c.1881-1940'. This project combines intellectual history, political history and the study of print culture to revaluate the neglected history of Marx's magnum opus in Britain. While historians have observed that Capital's bulk and difficulty caused problems for many 'lay' readers, this thesis examines both the sources of these difficulties and the various strategies that editors, publishers, booksellers, propagandists and readers employed to try and overcome them (Capital anthologised, summarised in a 16-page pamphlet, as an edition of the first nine chapters, issued in serial instalments, etc.) It will argue that such an approach to the problems of popularising Marx's work enriches our understanding of British Marxism and its failure to grow into a mass theoretically-informed movement.
Web page: http://cathfeely.googlepages.com/home
Contact: catherine.feely@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Joseph Maslen
Academic career: BA History, University of Manchester, 2000-2003, MA History, University of Manchester, 2003-2004
PhD topic: My PhD research focuses on twentieth-century British history, and in particular the life-story testimonies of people involved in the left-wing youth-movements of the 1930s. My research themes include: The authenticity of the interview; Narrative tropes; Ethnicity and `otherness'; Postmodernity and ambivalence; Media representations; The cultural circuit.
Contact: http://josephmaslen.googlepages.com/home
Lucinda Matthews-Jones
Academic career: BA (2004) MA (2005) University of Manchester
PhD topic: Lucinda is a second year (full time) postgraduate. She is supervised by Professor Bertrand Taithe and Dr. Julie-Marie Strange. Her PhD critically considers the interdependency of gender and religion, especially in the formation of an agency of social action, and the implications this had on supposedly secular spaces. Her PhD is provisionally entitled, 'Enchanting Spaces: Gender, Religion and Philanthropy in the University Settlement Movement, 1880-1914'. She has recently presented papers at Faith and Ideologies (IHR 2006) and the Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies Conference (Durham, 2006). She has organised two conferences: the Postgraduate Conference in History and Classics (2006) and Citizenship, Nation and Identity in the Long Nineteenth-Century (St. Deiniol's Library, 2006) funded by the AHRC.
Contact: Lucinda.matthews-jones@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Vicky Morrisroe
Academic career: BA History, University of Manchester; MA in Modern European History, University of Manchester
PhD topic: `Religion, Historiography, and Nationalism in Victorian England'. My PhD project is an attempt to engage with, and to challenge, two entrenched narratives of nineteenth century intellectual and cultural history. The secularization thesis remains the most influential account of the origins of modern historiography: the writing of history became `modern' as the stranglehold of religious controversy and church parties was relaxed. Meanwhile nationalism came to dominate the writing of history, occupying a space left vacant by the intellectual secularization. My project aims to explore the three way relationship of religion, nationalism, and historiography, and to map that relationship in new ways. I propose to do this through detailed case studies of three distinguished historians - all of them regius professors - whose work was shaped by religious perspectives: Lord Acton, a liberal catholic and critic of nationalism; J.R Seeley whose historical work bears the stamp of liberal Anglican concerns; and E.A Freeman an undergraduate Tractarian and later champion of nationalist history.
Nat Moser
PhD topic: Russian industrial development 1870-2005: a case-study of the oil & gas sector I aim to test the main generalisations about Russian industrial development since the late-nineteenth century through a case-study of a single sector: oil & gas. These have included that industrial activity was state-directed, occurred in large units, relied upon imported foreign technology and made inefficient use of available resources. My analysis employs three main theoretical tools: comparative economic systems, transformation and transaction costs, and principal-agent relations. My research methodology consists of both qualitative - archival research and elite interviews - and quantitative approaches.
Rachel Ritchie
Academic career : BA 1st History, University of Nottingham, 2000-2003; MA Dist Modern British History, University of Manchester, 2004-2005.
PhD t opic : My PhD looks at cultural representations of 'the housewife' in Britain during the 1950s and 60s, both in mainstream women's magazines and within women's organisations (specifically the Women's Institute and the Women's Co-operative Guild). I am focussing on the role of fashion and appearance, domestic consumption and domestic built space, but am also interested in broader issues concerning domesticity and the image of 'the housewife'. Women's organisations are particularly useful for this, providing a means of exploring the cultural production and popular appropriation, negotiation and rejection of gender and other social identities (class, region, race) in this period.
Contact: Rachel.Ritchie@postgrad.man.ac.uk
May Tatel-Scott
Academic career: BSc Education, major in History (University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, 1996-2000); MA History (Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, 2000-2003); MA Modern European History (University of Manchester, 2004-2005)
PhD topic: My PhD focuses on W.E. Gladstone as a political thinker who wrote his works on Homer as a reaction to George Grote's History of Greece. Through his readings of the Homeric epics & subsequent writings on the subject, Gladstone showed that the British system of government has its roots in a much distant time, particularly at the role of the monarchy, aristocracy, Parliament and oratory.
Contact: may_tatel@hotmail.co.uk
Junya Takiguchi
Academic c
areer: Bachelor of Political Science and Economics, Meiji University (Tokyo), 1999- 2003; Master of Arts, Modern European History, University of Manchester, 2003- 2004; PhD, Soviet Political and Cultural History, 2005-
PhD t
opic: My PhD research examines the Bolshevik Party Congress during a formative stage of the Soviet Union. It investigates the nine Party congresses that took place between 1918 and 1927 with a particular focus upon organisational aspects. A substantial number of archival documents that were unavailable until recently have been used in my research, as well as contemporary journals and newspapers published by the Bolsheviks and the Soviet government. My thesis also draws on cultural studies to explore how Congress participants interpreted and experienced the programme, including the programme of visits and entertainments that the Party provided for them. It thus seeks to shed light on hitherto neglected aspects of Party history from a political and cultural standpoint.
Contact: Junya.Takiguchi-2@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Caroline Yorston
Academic career: BA Politics and Modern History, University of Manchester, 2001-2004; MA Modern British History, University of Manchester, 2004-2005
PhD t opic: My PhD thesis, currently under the working title `The star that shines from the grave: Marilyn Monroe and the commodification of death, 1962-1987', uses the well publicised and memorialised death of Monroe to investigate two lines of enquiry. Firstly, what the media coverage of Monroe's death in 1962 exposes about gender and sexuality, bad death and drug culture and the Anglo-American relationship in the so-called 'swinging sixties.' And secondly, how a star's 'afterlife' in modern society which has taken the form of kitsch souvenir culture, dark tourism, biography and celebrated anniversaries exposes the intimate relationship between stardom, consumption and death in the twentieth century.
Contact: c_yorkie12@yahoo.co.uk