About Historical Perspectives.

Historical Perspectives was established in 2003 as a student run society for postgraduates researching history at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. The group give Masters and PhD students the opportunity to present their work to their peers in an informal atmosphere as well as providing the occasion to meet and socialise with other postgraduates. Historical Perspectives runs a seminar series entitled ‘Work in Progress’, which is open to students researching in any area of historical study, as well as holding an annual conference.

The impetus for the society was a conversation between some Masters and final year PhD students, on the ‘frightening’ prospect of presenting their research for the first time to experts in the academic community. The discussion highlighted some of the issues facing any who present papers: am I speaking too quickly, will my ideas be understood, does a twenty minute conversation with my bedroom mirror equate to twenty minutes in front of an audience, what sort of questions shall I be asked? The conclusion to this exchange was a realisation that a society should be created that could allow students the opportunity to explore some of the questions. The committee that formed to create the society wished that it would give postgraduates at the beginning of their research the chance to discuss and explore their ideas with their peers as well as learning presenting skills, while also offering a trial run for those preparing to present to the wider academic community.

The decision to create a joint society for the Universities came through an awareness that postgraduates at both Glasgow and Strathclyde were considering a similar society and that many students were studying in similar areas to students at the other university. A joint organisation was seen not only to offer a wider audience to disseminate ideas, but links to other students with related interests and research. The latter aspect also encouraged the Historical Perspectives to include a social element to the society and ensure that no postgraduate would find their research an isolating experience.

The seminar series ‘Work in Progress’ has thus far been very popular and involved speakers on a wide range of topics from the medieval to the modern. An important part of the Historical Perspectives calendar is the annual conference. The inspiration for the conference came from a desire to make links with postgraduates across Scotland and the rest of the UK. The first conference was held in May 2004 with the title ‘Conflict and Change’. It was successful in its intent hosting thirty postgraduate students from the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Caledonian, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen. Since then, we have held a conference annually and it keeps getting bigger and better! For more information on our seminar series or conferences, see the relevant on this site.